Brits clueless about most-expensive destinations

British tourists have little idea which destinations are the most expensive.

British tourists have little idea which destinations are the most expensive.

Research by Skyscanner looked at the perceived and actual total holiday costs of 30 destinations based on the prices of a coffee, beer, meal, accommodation, car hire and flights.

Sweden, Norway, Switzerland and Denmark were rated by Brits as the top four most expensive destinations, according to the search engine’s survey of more than 1,500 consumers.

Switzerland and Denmark were second and third in reality, with Sweden 13th and Norway 18th, but Britons overlooked the most expensive destination: France.

They were also quite wrong about Brazil and Russia. They viewed Brazil as one of the cheaper countries, but it was rated the fourth most expensive; while Russia, which was the fifth most expensive, they ranked in 16th place. 

India, Thailand and Morocco were correctly perceived to be among the cheapest places but Mexico, which was perceived to be fourth cheapest, was actually in the top 10 most expensive.

The most budget-friendly countries, in order, were Cyprus, Greece, South Africa, Dominican Republic and Morocco.

Greece was perceived to be significantly more costly than Turkey, ranking 19th most expensive ahead of Turkey in 28th place – but Skyscanner said Greece was in fact 25% more economical than Turkey, rating it second most competitively-priced destination overall.

Skyscanner director Barry Smith said: “It may be that the riots in May, the strike action facing ferries and the financial meltdown have resulted in many prices being slashed and Greece becoming a very attractive destination for a bargain break.”

Directline holidays chief executive Maria Whiteman added: “Many of the operators we work with are currently offering promotional prices to Greece in order to encourage bookings after recent negative publicity. From a value perspective it really is an extremely good time to go.”