HANOI NAMED CHEAPEST CITY FOR BRITS AND LONDON MOST EXPENSIVE AS SUMMER OF SPORTING CELEBRATIONS APPROACHES

Hanoi Named Cheapest City For Brits And London Most Expensive As Summer Of Sporting Celebrations Approaches

TripIndex by TripAdvisor reveals the price of an evening out in key cities around the world

LONDON, U.K. – 13 June 2012: TripAdvisor^®, the world’s largest travel site*, today unveils TripIndex^TM 2012, a cost comparison of an evening out for two people in key tourist cities around the world.

The TripAdvisor TripIndex is tracked against the British pound and is based on the combined costs for two of one night in a four-star hotel, cocktails, a two-course dinner with a bottle of wine, and return taxi transportation (two journeys of two miles each). Costs listed are accurate for the summer months ahead (1 June – 31 August 2012).

Hanoi, Vietnam offers the most affordable night out for British travellers with a total TripIndex cost of £89.93. At more than triple the cost of Hanoi, London topped the list as most expensive with a TripIndex cost of £330.45.

“TripIndex helps travellers to see where their pound goes the furthest,” commented Emma Shaw, TripAdvisor spokesperson. “The list shows that many Asian cities, along with some European cities – like Warsaw and Sofia – are very affordable once you’re on the ground. Some cities traditionally considered expensive – like London, Paris and New York – actually cost three times more than the cheaper cities in the list for an evening out.”

Hotels Set the Tone

Hotel costs were the pivotal factor in determining the cheapest and most expensive cities on TripIndex:

The cheapest average hotel room goes to Bangkok at £51.68 per night, while the most expensive goes to London, at £230.39 per night. This means London hotel rooms are four-and-a-half times more costly than those in Bangkok.

The average cost of a room in the ten cheapest destinations for hotels is just £67.74, while the most expensive destinations come in at an average of £175.54. That means rooms in the ten most expensive cities for hotels are nearly three times the cost of those in the ten cheapest.

Hotel prices listed are the average for stays between 1 June – 31 August 2012.

Save in Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia featured heavily in the ten cheapest destinations, claiming four cities in total, including the cheapest city for Brits, Hanoi. In addition, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, and Jakarta ranked third, fifth, and ninth.

Comparatively Costly in Europe

Europe dominated the most expensive list with seven of the top ten destinations, with London taking the top spot. Oslo, Zurich, Paris, Stockholm, Moscow, and Copenhagen took second, third, fourth, fifth, seventh, and eighth places respectively.

TripIndex Cities

Cheapest:

	Destination	Hotel	Return taxi trip	Cocktails for two	Dinner for two	Total cost
1	Hanoi, Vietnam	£54.08	£3.16	£14.39	£18.31	£89.93
2	Beijing, China	£67.72	£1.09	£15.07	£17.48	£101.37
3	Bangkok Thailand	£51.68	£1.30	£6.05	£44.35	£103.38
4	Budapest, Hungary	£66.58	£6.25	£22.96	£27.54	£123.32
5	Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia	£72.32	£2.34	£12.54	£36.67	£123.86
6	Warsaw, Poland	£69.66	£7.90	£7.72	£42.03	£127.30
7	Taipei, Taiwan	£90.31	£2.35	£16.79	£20.25	£129.70
8	Sofia, Bulgaria	£74.08	£2.18	£26.18	£29.94	£132.38
9	Jakarta, Indonesia	£79.15	£2.97	£13.74	£40.16	£136.02
10	Tunis, Tunisia	£96.31	£3.35	£6.38	£32.16	£138.19

Most Expensive:

	Destination	Hotel	Return taxi trip	Cocktails for two	Dinner for two	Total cost
1	London, UK	£230.39	£22.20	£25.00	£52.86	£330.45
2	Oslo, Norway	£140.11	£33.46	£23.59	£122.46	£319.62
3	Zurich, Switzerland	£186.02	£24.17	£17.30	£82.57	£310.06
4	Paris, France	£195.40	£9.63	£36.75	£64.98	£306.76
5	Stockholm, Sweden	£139.34	£30.33	£22.48	£110.31	£302.46
6	New York City, USA	£217.64	£9.56	£20.40	£43.28	£290.89
7	Moscow, Russia	£156.69	£9.15	£27.85	£80.49	£274.17
8	Copenhagen, Denmark	£144.71	£13.83	£25.82	£88.15	£272.51
9	Sydney, Australia	£110.20	£12.53	£27.59	£99.72	£250.04
10	Singapore	£148.52	£4.20	£21.94	£64.29	£238.96

The full TripIndex is available at http://cdn.tripadvisor.com/pdfs/TripIndex_Summer_2012_UK.pdf

-Ends-

For more information, please contact Laurel Greatrix / 0777 801 3639 / lgreatrix@tripadvisor.com

Notes to Editors:

The international TripIndex destination list comprises key cities from 48 of the 50 countries which receive the largest number of international visitor arrivals (data compiled by the UNWTO).

TripIndex prices out the following items in each destination to represent the cost of a night out for two people:

One night’s accommodation in a four-star hotel
Cocktails for two people
Dinner for two (two courses and a bottle of house wine)
Return taxi transportation (two taxi journeys of two miles each)

Prices were collected through a variety of research methods as outlined below. Prices were taken in local currencies between March and May 2012 and converted into GBP on 29 May 2012.

Hotels: Prices specify the average per-night cost of a room at four-star hotels found on TripAdvisor (via partner booking sites such as online travel agencies and direct hotel suppliers) in each destination for the summer travel period (1 June - 31 August 2012).

Cocktails for two: Prices specify the average cost of two traditional dry martinis from a top-rated five-star hotel on TripAdvisor in each destination.

Dinner for two: Prices specify the average cost of a traditional or common two-course meal (starter and main course) for two people with a bottle of house (or cheapest available) white wine (prices averaged from three mid-range restaurants in each destination).

Return taxi trip: Prices specify the approximate cost of two taxi journeys of two miles each (representing an evening’s return transportation). Data was taken from local authorities, recognised taxi companies, and/or travel experts on the area.