Holidaymakers face pricier food and drink in Europe as sterling takes a pounding

The fall in the value of sterling following the EU referendum means UK holidaymakers will be charged more for meals and drinks in many European resorts compared with last year, according to a new study.

Travellers going abroad this summer face an increase in the cost of food and drink in 11 out of 13 destinations featured in the Post Office Travel Money report.

The largest rise is in Palma Nova on the Spanish Balearic island of Majorca, where the cost to UK holidaymakers of items such as a three-course meal, a glass of wine and a cup of coffee has gone up by 51% since 2015.

Visitors to Nice, in the south of France, are facing the second highest increase of the destinations surveyed at 30%, followed by the Spanish resort of Ibiza and Paphos in Cyprus, which have both gone up by 23%.

The pound has plummeted more than 9% against the euro since the referendum, falling from 1.31 euros to 1.19, while also reaching a 31-year low against the US dollar.

The only destinations featured in the report where the cost of food and drink has fallen for UK travellers this year is the Costa Blanca in Spain (-10%) and Sunny Beach in Bulgaria (-1%).

But the study noted that while most resort prices are up on 2015 - when sterling was at a seven-year high - they are still as much as 10% lower compared with 2014.

Andrew Brown, of Post Office Travel Money, said: "It's all about putting today's exchange rates into context.

"Sterling may have fallen recently but when you compare its value with every other year since 2011 except 2015, holidaymakers can be reassured that the cash in their pockets will cover their costs.

"Bars and restaurants in several of the resorts we surveyed have cut their prices to attract tourists."

This is the increase in the cost of food and drink to UK holidaymakers at popular resorts compared with 2015, according to Post Office Travel Money:

1. Palma Nova, Majorca: 51.4%

2. Nice, France: 29.6%

3. Ibiza: 23.4%

4. Paphos, Cyprus: 23.0%

5. Sorrento, Italy: 19.5%

6. Sliema, Malta: 19.3%

7. Costa del Sol, Spain: 19.2%

8. Corfu, Greece: 14.7%

9. Algarve, Portugal: 10.6%

10. Crete, Greece: 10.1%

11. Porec, Croatia: 5.6%

12. Sunny Beach, Bulgaria: -1.2%

13. Costa Blanca, Spain: -10.3%