A37% price fall makes Turkey the cheapest of 36 destinations surveyed in Post Office’s global barometer of tourist costs – beating Bulgaria to the top spot for the first time
As the UK government removes the remaining COVID-19 international travel restrictions for all passengers, soaring sales for long haul currencies led by the Mexican peso and Caribbean currencies suggest Britons will be travelling further afield for the first time since the start of the pandemic.
Currency trends published in the latest Post Office Holiday Money Report found that peso sales are 45 per cent higher than in 2020’s pre-pandemic period. However, sterling’s strength against European currencies means tourists will get more for their money closer to home. The report’s Worldwide Holiday Costs Barometer of 36 destinations found that resorts in Turkey and Bulgaria offer by far the lowest prices for bargain hunters.
The collapse of the Turkish lira has helped Marmaris to edge past Sunny Beach, Bulgaria for the first time and take top spot in the 16th annual survey of costs for eight tourist staples – a three-course evening meal for two with wine, bottle of beer, glass of wine, can of Coca-Cola, large bottle of water, cup of coffee, suncream and insect repellent.
Although a few pence separate the two, a 37 per cent fall in prices caused by the weak lira made Marmaris marginally cheaper at £26.13 for the eight items, compared with £26.19 in Sunny Beach.
Bulgaria may yet prove to be the more popular choice as bargain-seeking Britons line up to visit the country’s Black Sea resorts. Sales of Bulgarian lev at Post Office Travel Money, which accounts for one-in-four UK currency transactions, are currently outstripping those of the lira by nearly 14 per cent. As a result, the lev has leapt into the Post Office’s top 10 bestselling currencies for 2022 in 10th place, three ahead of the Turkish lira in 13thposition.
Euro currency sales are also surging and are now just 23.7 per cent behind their buoyant position in early 2020 before Covid-19 struck. Eurozone resorts are also looking good value, taking five of the top 10 barometer places. The Algarve (£44.39, down one per cent) remains cheapest in third place, with costs 25 per cent lower than in sixth-placed Costa del Sol (£59.56, down 2.2 per cent).
However, Cyprus has overtaken the Spanish favourite to take fifth place after recording a steep price fall of over 15 per cent to £56.44 in Paphos. Malta (9th) has also made the top 10 with a 5.8 per cent drop in barometer costs in Sliema (£65.35). Eighth-placed Madeira (£64.05) was the only top 10 destination to show a price increase, albeit of just 3.4 per cent.
Cape Town, South Africa remains best value for long haul holidaymakers and retains fourth place after registering a 1.6 per cent price fall to £53.23. A larger fall of 5.9 per cent helped Mombasa, Kenya (£61.30) to jump five places to seventh in the table.
Even though sterling has lost ground against the US dollar since last year, Orlando, Florida (10th) has entered the barometer top 10 for the first time after prices fell 10.1 per cent year-on-year to £67.01. Post Office Travel Money says it is worth noting that Britons visiting the world’s theme park capital for the first time in two years will find prices around 22 per cent lower since then.
Nick Boden, Post Office Head of Travel Money, said: “It will pay dividends to invest time in holiday homework because many people won’t have travelled abroad in the past two years. They need to be aware that prices have risen sharply in some destinations and fallen significantly in others. We advise making a destination shortlist and comparing costs before booking a trip.”
Sterling’s strength against many currencies has proved decisive in helping to keep costs down. Holidaymakers will pay less than a year ago in half of the 36 destinations surveyed.
Aside from falls in the top 10 destinations, prices are down over 15 per cent in Corfu (18th, £76.94). They have also fallen 11.8 per cent in Phuket, Thailand and 6.5 per cent in Darwin, Australia – destinations just open to tourists after two years of closure. Both Thailand and Australia feature in the Post Office Travel Money Holiday Hotlist because of reduced resort costs and the buoyant pound.
