Report: Sri Lanka becoming too pricey for visitors

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka – A study which gauges the value for money factor of tourist resorts, has seen the Indonesian island of Bali toppling Sri Lanka from the once held top spot as the ‘best value’ long-haul travel option in a new list of popular holiday destinations, the Daily Mail reported.

The latest Post Office Travel Money Long Haul Report – which gauges the countries that offer the most in return for tourists’ holiday cash – shows Sri Lanka slipping to fifth place behind South Africa, Vietnam and Thailand.

According to the study the reason behind the decline was put down to a 45 per cent price rise in costs at Sri Lankan resorts. Resort costs have fallen in half of long haul destinations – in most cases because of the improving performance of the pound, it said.

The Post Office report found that prices in Bali for 2013 fell by one per cent to give the Indonesian island a clear lead over second placed South Africa, while resort prices in Sri Lanka had risen for the second year running.

It calculated the cost of ten tourist staples in the capital Colombo – including itsems such as suncream, insect repellant and a three-course meal for two with wine – to come to a total of £54.45.

Although the average price of a cup of coffee, at 26 pence, was the cheapest across the board, Sri Lanka displayed the biggest cost rise in any of the destinations surveyed, with prices for all ten commodities 24 per cent higher than in Bali (£43.91), the outright winner.

Vietnam and Thailand took third and fourth place, the Daily Mail reported.

Table above compares ‘best value’ long-haul travel destinations by measuring the cost of what the report deemed as tourist staples in each destination.