Long haul destinations ‘offer best value’

Thailand, Australia, South Africa and the US are the best value for holidaymakers planning a trip abroad this year, a survey shows.

The findings come from the annual American Express Foreign Exchange Holiday Cost of Living Index, which compares prices in 12 popular holiday resort areas for 13 ‘shopping basket’ items.

Italy, previously thought to be one of Europe’s more expensive resort areas, proved cheapest of the six euro zone countries surveyed and the only one where costs fell compared with last year.

Using information researched by national tourist boards for each of the 12 countries surveyed, Amex found that prices varied by around £90 for the same 13 items. 

The cheapest, with a shopping bill of just £65.70, was Thailand – 6% below 2004 costs. South Africa was the next cheapest with a shopping bill of £67.68.

The holiday cost of living bill dropped significantly in the two other long haul destinations surveyed – Australia and the US. Prices in Australia dropped by around 20%, while in the US costs were down by 9% in addition to the previous year’s drop of 24%. 

Italy’s shopping basket total dropped to £73.96 (-9%) in contrast with Spain, Portugal, Greece, France and Ireland. Costs rose in each of these, most noticeably in Spain and Ireland where the bill grew by around 26% each.  

Amex foreign exchange senior vice president Brendan Walsh said: “As was the case last year, the 2005 ‘Cost of Living’ chart demonstrates clearly that one currency does not mean one price. 

“The costs vary significantly for every item that we surveyed – by £2.03 for a bottle of Coke bought in a café and £1.41 for a large bottle of supermarket mineral water, for example. Overall, the cost in Italy was virtually half that in Ireland for the same 13 items.”

Prices for a cappuccino ranged from 43p in Thailand to as much as £2.84 in Greece while a meal for two with wine might cost £25.98 in South Africa, the equivalent in Norway, the most expensive European country surveyed, was almost £75.

*The cheapest and most expensive countries for each of the 14 items surveyed were:

COMMODITY      CHEAPEST                                          MOST EXPENSIVE

CAPPUCCINO     Thailand  43p                    Greece   £2.84

LAGER (330cl bottle) South Africa 65p         Norway             £3.98

LAGER/BEER (6-pack) Portugal/Spain   £1.95 Norway             £6.90

COKE (330cl bottle)   South Africa    46p      France              £2.49

COKE (1.5l bottle)      USA               27p     Greece              £1.63

MINERAL WATER (1.5l) France          13p      Norway             £1.54

ICE CREAM BAR          Thailand         22p     Greece              £1.78

SUNCREAM       South Africa    £1.16           Ireland               £10.30

POSTCARD/STAMP   Thailand        24p         Norway             £1.33

CAMERA FILM (24)  South Africa    74p       Ireland/Spain    £4.26

MUSIC CD          USA      £7.61                Norway            £15.82

SNACK LUNCH FOR 4    Australia  £10.76   Ireland               £42.63

MEAL FOR 2 + WINE   South Africa  £25.98  Norway             £75.14

CAR HIRE – 3 DAYS   Spain  £36.91           Norway             £139.62

Report by Phil Davies