Cape Town in South Africa, Tokyo in Japan and the Kenyan city of Mombasa offer the best value for UK travellers seeking a winter break, according to a new report.
An evaluation of 24 popular holiday spots conducted for Post Office Travel Money found that Cape Town provides the lowest prices for typical tourist goods, followed by the Japanese capital and Kenya's coastal city.
The Winter Sun Holiday Costs Barometer calculates overall affordability based on standard items such as an evening meal, beverages, insect repellent and sun lotion.
The figures do not factor in the cost of flights or accommodation.
For the first time, the study assessed both short-haul and long-haul locations, restricting the list exclusively to places reachable without needing to transit through a Middle East airport.
Cape Town has repeatedly taken top spot as the best-value winter sun destination, with prices in the South African city dropping by 9.7 per cent since March, Post Office Travel Money stated.
A three-course evening meal there for two people including a bottle of house wine was £39.26, compared with £119.26 in Scarborough, Tobago, which was the most expensive destination surveyed.
For Mombasa, the cost was £42.78 and £48.50 in Tokyo.
The Algarve in Portugal, Costa del Sol in Spain and Tenerife in the Canary Islands were the cheapest among eight European resorts that were surveyed.
Of the overall top ten cheapest destinations, four were in Asia – including Penang in Malaysia, Phuket in Thailand, Colombo in Sri Lanka and Tokyo.
Laura Plunkett, head of Post Office Travel Money, said: “Our research again picked up wide variations in the cost of tourist staples, particularly in areas like the Caribbean and in Europe.
“This means holidaymakers could save themselves money and cut the cost of their winter sun holiday by doing some basic holiday pricing research before booking.”
