World famous city is ‘best value destination’ with new budget flights

With white sand beaches, balmy temperatures and award-winning wine, Cape Town is a popular destination for tourists.

And now South Africa’s spectacular Mother City has regained its position as the best value destination in a new getaway costs study.

According to the annual Long Haul Holiday Report from Post Office Travel Money, Cape Town has earned the title as the best budget long haul trip for the first time in six years, overtaking cities in Vietnam and Japan’s capital Tokyo.

Brits will also find it easier to get there this winter with Norse Atlantic launching low-cost flights from Gatwick next month to take on British Airways and Virgin Atlantic.

Local price falls, together with a weaker South African rand, have combined to bring costs for Brits down by 12 percent since last autumn.

At £55.59, the cost of 10 tourist staples, including meals, snacks, drinks and sunscreen, made Cape Town the best value of the 32 resorts and cities surveyed.

Post Office researchers found that Hoi An in Vietnam – 2023’s best value destination – has fallen to third place with local price rises resulting in a basket of £64.80. However, the city features the report’s cheapest beer at £1.53.

Tokyo, another former number one destination, moved from third to second at £64.07, helped by local costs dropping 13.5 percent.

Bali, remained in fourth position with a barometer cost of £67.70, down eight percent year on year. Jamaica is the only one of six Caribbean destinations surveyed to make the top 10 – Montego Bay’s barometer of £93.74 fell 9.4 percent on 2023 levels, taking 10th place.

New to the top 10 is Chile’s capital Santiago, where local prices have fallen 14.3 percent for a basket of £88.92 and 9th place.

For the first time this year, the report included four Australian destinations – Sydney, Cairns, Melbourne and Darwin – but a trip Down Under is going to hit the budget as all are among the 10 priciest destinations and, at almost £165, Sydney’s basket is the costliest.

Brits looking to take advantage of seriously dropping prices will find Egypt’s Sharm el-Sheikh down 16.4 perecent to £76.47, with a coffee only £1.38. Colombo in Sri Lanka has fallen 14.8 percent to £78.14, and St James, Barbados, is down the most, falling 18.5 percent to £141.29.

Across the pond, New York’s basket of £163.51 is almost as expensive as Sydney, though theme park capital Orlando is a much more wallet-friendly £109.23.

Laura Plunkett, head of travel money at the Post Office, said: “Tourists could save a lot of money and make a big difference to the overall cost of their winter sun trip by finding out where meals, drinks and other staples are going to cost the least.

“Think carefully about how to get the most out of your spending money, and get it in advance.”

10 best value long haul destinations

Destination and total cost.