February 17, 2011
By Staff Reporter
The 2005 Cost of Living Chart has found that Ireland is now one of the most expensive holiday destinations in the world.
Compiled by American Express, a “shopping basket,” survey compared the price of 13 typical holiday items for 12 countries around the world. The list included drinks and meals, along with sundries like sunscreen and disposable cameras.
Ireland ranked second most expensive country, with the basket of items coming to $271.
Norway ranked highest with a price tag of $290.94. The same goods came to just $123.17 in Thailand, the cheapest country surveyed.
According to the survey, Ireland experienced the most dramatic increases in holiday essentials this year, with prices of the surveyed goods rising by 26 percent from the same period last year.
In contrast, the survey showed that holidaying in both the US and Australia had dropped by around 20 percent.
A snack meal for four including soft drinks averaged at $80.05 in Ireland, compared with just $26.87 in Thailand.
Ireland also ranked most expensive for sunscreen ($19.34) and camera film, along with Spain ($7.99).
Italy was ranked as the cheapest of the six euro-zone countries surveyed, where costs had fallen by 9 percent since last year.
“This chart demonstrates clearly that one currency does not mean one price,” according to Brendan Walsh, senior vice-president of the American Express Foreign Exchange.
“Overall, the cost in Italy was virtually half that in Ireland for the same 13 items.”