Tourists' Perceptions of Holiday Costs in Asia Vary Widely, Reveals Skyscanner

SINGAPORE, June 4, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

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 16^th 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."

                                                 Actual Country
                             Actual Country Cost Cost Ranking Incl.
         Perceived Country   Ranking (one day    Flights (one week
    Rank Cost Ranking        cost)               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

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