SINGAPORE, 19 July 2016 – Hanoi is the best value destination in the world for a city break, according to TripIndex Cities, an annual TripAdvisor cost comparison study.

TripIndex Cities, conducted by independent research firm TNS, compares the cost of a three-night break during the summer travel period of June to September in 20 key tourist cities around the world, taking into account typical in-destination costs for two people. These include; a four-star hotel for three nights, a visit to three attractions, lunch each day, a taxi to and from dinner each day, plus the cost of dinner itself.[1]

The study found that the average price for a short break across the 20 cities is S$1,337, excluding flights, with prices varying significantly from the least to the most expensive. Hanoi is the lowest cost destination with a break costing less than S$674, while New York costs the most at almost S$2,478, almost double the average.

“Nothing is more important to travellers than ensuring what you’ve planned for your holiday is worth the spend,” said Janice Lee Fang, TripAdvisor’s Communications Director for Asia Pacific. “Our booking rates on TripAdvisor show us that the average on-the-ground cost of staying in New York is almost the same as a full trip to Hanoi over the same dates including flights – making Hanoi the best value city for a quick break.”

Asia offers best value

When looking at the on-the-ground cost of a three-night city break, the 2016 TripIndex Cities report shows that travellers can find the best value in Asia, with four of the top ten cheapest destinations located within South East Asia; Hanoi, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok and Bali take first, fourth, fifth and seventh places respectively.

However, travellers must be destination conscious when selecting Asia, as three of the most expensive destinations are also located in this part of the world. Tokyo, Singapore and Hong Kong are revealed as the second, sixth and seventh most expensive destinations respectively.

City break cost breakdown – what makes up the total price?

On average, accommodation costs make up around half of the in-destination costs of a break (52%). However, when it comes to the highest price destinations, accommodation makes up more of the total - particularly in New York, Paris and Cancun (61%, 61%, 71%).

In contrast, visitors to the lowest cost destinations can expect to spend less on accommodation with a higher share of their in-destination budget going on eating out. For example, in Hanoi and Kuala Lumpur, 50% of the travel budget goes on eating out, while in Bangkok, it’s 54%

Key report findings

- Accommodation prices are lowest in Hanoi, Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur (S$320, S$347, S$350 for three nights) while the highest prices are found in New York, Cancun and London (S$1,501, S$1,340, S$1,091 for three nights) – around four times greater than in the cheapest cities.

- When it comes to eating out, travellers can get the best value for lunch and dinner in Cape Town, Mumbai and Bali (S$235, S$256 and S$305 over three days). At around three times higher, Hong Kong and Tokyo offer the highest prices for lunch and dinner at S$762 and S$810 respectively across a three-night break.

- Prices to visitor attractions vary significantly, with some destinations predominantly offering free entrance attractions such as Hong Kong, Hanoi and Tokyo where just 1% or less of trip spend is made up of attraction costs, compared with other destinations where attractions are a larger part of the overall cost such as Moscow where on average, 14% of trip spend goes on visiting attractions.

- Like the cost of attractions, taxi fares are also vastly different from destination to destination. The cost of a 3km return taxi journey in the higher priced destinations is around 16 times more expensive than the lowest price destinations. A return taxi journey in Bali will set a traveller back S$10 while in New York, Tokyo and Rome, travellers will fork out S$147-S$154.

TripIndex Cities at a glance

From the least expensive to the most expensive (green and red indicate least and most expensive destinations for each item respectively):

Cheapest:

Rank	City	Accommodation (S$)	Lunch (S$)	Dinner (S$)	Attractions (S$)	Taxi (S$)	TOTAL (S$)
1	Hanoi	320.44	114.13	223.71	6.55	9.24	674.07
2	Mumbai	485.41	97.21	158.68	13.17	12.52	767.00
3	Cape Town	472.43	81.65	153.31	65.09	18.81	791.28
4	Kuala Lumpur	350.12	127.90	299.99	59.57	12.99	850.57
5	Bangkok	346.62	132.21	329.43	53.06	13.21	874.52
6	Moscow	360.50	118.60	266.49	124.79	19.98	890.35
7	Bali	586.72	85.25	219.59	18.56	10.03	920.14
8	Madrid	466.77	162.23	273.16	43.19	49.49	994.84
9	Berlin	529.33	194.39	341.40	35.99	96.73	1197.85
10	Vienna	555.95	221.38	390.39	107.44	51.74	1326.90

Most expensive:

Rank	City	Accommodation (S$)	Lunch (S$)	Dinner (S$)	Attractions (S$)	Taxi (S$)	TOTAL (S$)
1	New York City	1501.28	232.45	464.22	133.50	146.53	2477.98
2	Tokyo	1087.75	277.35	532.42	9.55	154.34	2061.42
3	London	1090.64	237.65	404.38	99.68	82.61	1914.96
4	Cancun	1340.35	94.20	215.14	175.93	24.66	1850.28
5	Paris	1033.13	174.40	308.16	53.99	102.36	1672.04
6	Singapore	740.32	223.69	502.71	100.80	44.25	1611.77
7	Hong Kong	734.22	270.76	491.27	0.00	43.67	1539.91
8	Sydney	684.77	230.39	457.52	57.67	92.35	1522.70
9	Rome	727.14	167.73	305.64	53.99	152.37	1406.87
10	Rio de Janeiro	775.65	202.84	342.07	51.76	24.49	1396.81

Visiting TripIndex Cities most expensive destinations on a budget

Travellers should not be put off planning a trip to one of the five most expensive TripIndex Cities destinations. It is still possible to bring the costs down compared to the average traveller’s budget to these cities, particularly by choosing more affordable hotel options.  Here TripAdvisor presents highly-rated value hotels (at least S$107 cheaper than the city average) in the five priciest destinations2, plus tours of the local sights for S$71 and under3, bookable on TripAdvisor this summer:

1. New York City, USA – Average nightly summer hotel rate: S$495[4]

- Bag a bargain at highly rated value hotel Distrikt Hotel, bookable on TripAdvisor for S$384

- Check out the sights with the Complete Manhattan Island Cruise bookable on TripAdvisor for S$45

2. Tokyo, Japan – Average nightly summer hotel rate: S$359

- Bag a bargain at highly rated value hotel Richmond hotel Asakusa, bookable on TripAdvisor for S$209

- Check out the sights with the Tokyo Asakusa Rickshaw Tour bookable on TripAdvisor for S$59

3. London, UK – Average nightly summer hotel rate: S$359

- Bag a bargain at highly rated value hotel The Westbridge Hotel, bookable on TripAdvisor for S$234

- Check out the sights with the Historical Pub Walking Tour of London bookable on TripAdvisor for S$45

4. Cancun, Mexico – Average nightly summer hotel rate: S$442

- Bag a bargain at highly rated value hotel The Royal Caribbean, bookable on TripAdvisor for S$243

- Check out the sights with Early Access tour of Tulum Ruins with an Archaeologist bookable on TripAdvisor for S$68

5. Paris, France – Average nightly summer hotel rate: S$341

- Bag a bargain at highly rated value hotel Grand Hotel Francais, bookable on TripAdvisor for S$214

- Check out the sights with a Skip the Line Eiffel Tower Behind-the-Scenes Theatrical Tour bookable on TripAdvisor for S$43

-Ends-

Notes to editors:

[1]Please see methodology for more details.

[2]All of the most popular attractions in Hong Kong were free of charge which meant that the total average cost for attractions in Hong Kong was calculated as S$0.00.

[3]Recommended highly rated value hotels in the five most expensive destinations have a 4.5 average bubble rating, a minimum of 680 reviews and are at least S$107 per night less than the average nightly rate for each destination. Hotel pricing is based on TripAdvisor data for 20 June through 30 September, 2016, aggregated from booking partners, including online travel agencies and direct hotel suppliers.

[4]Top rated single-day tours under S$71 for each city with a minimum of 10 reviews.

[5]Prices were converted from GBP to SGD via xe.com on 15^th July.

Methodology

The TripIndex Cities 2016 destination list is comprised of 20 key cities.

TripIndex Cities prices out the daily cost for the following items in each destination, multiplied by three to represent the cost of a three-day city break for two people.

Lunch: Meal and soft drink

Dinner: Starter, main meal and bottle of wine to share

Taxi: Return taxi journey of three km each way

Attraction: Average cost of entry to three popular attractions

Hotel: Accommodation in a 4-4.5 star hotel

Research was conducted by TNS and prices were collected through telephone and web search. Prices in each market were taken in local currencies between 23 Mar and 5 May 2016 and currency conversion rates were taken from Oanda.com on 30^th June.

Meals:

Lunch for two: Prices specify the average cost of a traditional or common main meal for two people with a soft drink. Prices were collected from menus on restaurant websites between 23 Mar – 5 May 2016. Restaurants were randomly selected within the mid-range category on TripAdvisor and had a 4.5 average bubble rating.

Dinner for two: Prices specify the average cost of a traditional or common two-course meal (starter and main) for two people with a bottle of house (or cheapest available) red wine. Prices were collected from menus on restaurant websites between 23 Mar – 5 May 2016. Restaurants were randomly selected within the mid-range category on TripAdvisor and had a 4.5 average bubble rating.

Lunch meal items:

Main meal: Pizza Margherita / Burger & Fries / Pasta dish / Chicken dish / Fish dish / Meat dish / or Local variants if not available.

Soft drink: Coca-Cola/ Pepsi-Cola / other soft drink

Dinner meal items:

Starter course: Salad / Soup / Prawn dish / Mushroom dish / or local variants if not available.

Main meal: Pizza Margherita / Burger & Fries / Pasta dish / Chicken dish / Fish dish / Meat dish / or Local variants if not available.

Wine: Cheapest available bottle of red wine. Price of two beers used instead in Mumbai.

Return taxi journey: Prices specify the average cost of two taxi journeys of three kilometres each way between two city centre locations (representing an evening’s return transportation). Prices were collected from the Uber website/app and represent the average price of two data collection points (outward/ return journey) between 7pm-11pm local time. Non-car pool option selected.  Local standard taxi rates were use where Uber was not available (Berlin and Cancun).

Attractions entry for two: Prices specify the average cost of entry to three popular attractions in each destination for two people. This includes attractions with free admission. In destinations where all of the most popular attractions are free, the average cost is calculated as S$0.00, as is the case with Hong Kong. Prices were collected from destination websites.

Hotel room rates: Room rates specify the average cost of one night’s stay in 4 and 4.5 star hotels in each destination between 20^th June – 30^thSeptember 2016, aggregated from booking partners, including online travel agencies and direct hotel suppliers.