By Patrick Graham
LONDON, July 15 (Reuters) - British travellers' appetite fordollars and euros has sunk in the three weeks since Britainvoted to leave the European Union, as they seemingly wait aslong as possible in the hope that the pound's exchange rate willrebound.
Both Thomas Cook and Travelex said that travel moneybusiness had jumped in the run-up to last month's referendum onEU membership, as those with summer holidays booked in Europe orthe United States worried the pound might be worth lessafterwards.
And since Britain voted to leave, with sterling now down 11percent against the dollar and 9 percent against the euro,orders have dried up, and are well down on the equivalent periodin previous years.
"After a rush from customers for foreign currencypre-Brexit, we've seen a slowdown," said Fraser Millar, head offinancial services at Thomas Cook.
"We think customers are doing their own personal hedging,buying a bit now but holding off to buy the rest until justbefore they travel, to see whether the rate improves."
Some providers said business had not been helped by reportsof rates at airports - normally among the most expensive placesto buy foreign currency - that put the pound close to paritywith the euro, a huge mark-up on the rate of around 83 pence atwhich travel money firms can buy euros from banks.
"These sort of reports have probably frightened people off,"says Sandy Perera, who runs a network of small foreign exchangebooths ranked by comparison sites as among the cheapest placesto buy currencies in London.
"This time last year was our peak period and we are down atleast 10-12 percent on that. We'll probably get a rush of peoplenext week, which is a big headache for us (because) managing theavailability of some currencies is the hard bit."
The development of electronic payment infrastructure acrossEurope has steadily brought down the cost of using major cardsabroad to as little as 2-3 percent with major banks and creditcard companies.
But when fees for drawing money out of foreign cash machinesare added, using a broker to buy cash before travelling canstill prove far cheaper.
At the start of this year, when many people will have paidfor package holidays, the pound was worth around $1.50. OnFriday, it was worth just $1.32.
"The pound's volatility since the Brexit announcement hasimpacted people's desire to buy the euro and the U.S. dollar," aspokesman for Travelex said.
"Our rates have had to take the pound's volatility intoconsideration in order to be able to continue to provide ourservices to those who needed them." (Editing by Kevin Liffey)
