Asian cities still good value

BANGKOK, 21 June 2012: Asian destinations topped a TripAdvisor price index for US travellers that indicated Hanoi, was the top value city while Bangkok earned third place.

Released  last week, the TripAdvisor TripIndex is based on the estimated combined costs for two people staying one night in a four-star hotel (twin-share rate), a cocktail drink per person, a two-course dinner for two with a bottle of wine, and round-trip taxi transfer (distance each way 2 miles).

Prices were calculated in local currencies between March and May 2012 and converted into US$  currency 29 May 2012.

The index noted that Asia remained the most affordable region for US travellers looking for deals over the summer travel peak. Six of the top 10 most affordable cities were in Asia with price indexes ranging from US$141 to just over US$200.

Hanoi, Vietnam, came in as the cheapest with a TripIndex cost of US$141.12 followed by Beijing at US$159.05. Bangkok in third place scored a TripIndex cost of US$161.90 ahead of Budapest in Hungary and Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia in fourth and fifth at US$193.78 and US$194.43 respectively.

Other value cities were: Poland’s Warsaw (US$199.20); Taiwan’s Taipei (US$203.62); Indonesia’s Jakarta (US$204.59); Bulgaria’s Sofia (US$207.28); and Tunisia’s Tunis (US$216.65).

In contrast, Singapore gained a ranking in the top 10 most expensive cities. It was the only city in Asia to be listed on the most expensive destination list sneaking in at 10th place.

There were few surprises on the most expensive list. London was number one for holiday costs at a whopping US$518.01.

Europe figured as the most expensive continent for US travellers, with seven of the world’s priciest cities on the expensive side of the Index: UK’s London (US$518.01), Norway’s Oslo (US$499.91), Switzerland’s Zurich (US$485.82), France’s Paris (US$480.76), Sweden’s Stockholm (US$472.36), Russia’s Moscow (US$429.07) and Denmark’s Copenhagen (US$426.84).

Sourced: .ttrweekly