SINGAPORE, June 4, 2012/PRNewswire-Asia/ --
A study by leading travel search site Skyscanner has shown there can be huge misconceptions between the perceived cost of holiday destinations and the actual costs.
The annual study of 30 popular holiday destinations revealed that India is perceived to be the cheapest country by tourists while in fact it came in fifth place in the actual cost rankings and when the cost of flights from the UK was factored in, India came in 16th place in the overall rankings, beating destinations such as Brazil and Mexico and making it the cheapest long-haul destination for British tourists.
However, in some cases tourists were very accurate in their perception. Thailand was in second place both in terms of the public's perception and the actual country cost.
On the other hand, Japan was overestimated by the public and was actually cheaper than perceived, jumping 13 places from fourth most expensive to number 14 in the actual country cost rankings.
Skyscanner's Market Development Manager for India, Kavitha Gnanamurthy, commented: "While the public's perception of holiday costs in Asia varies, our study confirms that countries such as India offer tourists some of the best value in the world and of course an abundance of beautiful scenery and historic monuments."
Rank | Perceived Country Cost Ranking | Actual Country Cost Ranking (one day cost) | Actual Country Cost Ranking Incl. Flights (one week cost) |
1. | India | Morocco | Poland |
2. | Thailand | Thailand | Germany |
3 | Poland | Poland | Portugal |
4. | Morocco | Portugal | Spain |
5. | Egypt | India | UK |
6. | Mexico | Spain | Ireland |
7. | Croatia | Egypt | Morocco |
8. | Dominican Republic | Ireland | France |
9. | Brazil | UK | Egypt |
10. | Portugal | Germany | Greece |
11. | Greece | New Zealand | Croatia |
12. | South Africa | Cyprus | Italy |
13. | Spain | Iceland | Denmark |
14. | USA | Japan | Sweden |
15. | Cyprus | Mexico | Cyprus |
16. | Russia | South Africa | India |
17. | Canada | Greece | Iceland |
18. | New Zealand | Dominican Republic | Switzerland |
19. | Germany | France | Russia |
20. | Australia | Croatia | Dubai |
21. | Italy | Dubai | Thailand |
22. | Ireland | Italy | South Africa |
23. | France | Canada | Japan |
24. | UK | USA | Canada |
25. | Dubai | Australia | USA |
26. | Iceland | Russia | Dominican Republic |
27. | Japan | Denmark | Australia |
28. | Denmark | Sweden | Mexico |
29. | Sweden | Brazil | New Zealand |
30. | Switzerland | Switzerland | Brazil |
About Skyscanner
Skyscanner is a leading travel search site providing instant online comparisons for millions of flights on over a thousand airlines.