British survey says Paphos seventh cheapest holiday destination in Europe

Paphos is the seventh cheapest holiday destination in Europe for British travellers, according to the latest British Post Office Travel Money survey.

The survey covered 16 destinations in Europe, 13 in the Americas and Caribbean and 17 in the rest of the world.

Overall, Paphos came in the 11^th cheapest destination among the 46 with a total cost of £66.74 for a basket of eight tourist items comprising dinner for two with a bottle of wine, a range of soft and alcoholic drinks, sun cream and insect repellent.

Coronavirus has dealt a huge blow to the world travel industry, and like many tourism-reliant economies, Cyprus’ tourism sector is struggling to cope with a significantly lower number of foreign visitors that account for most of its business.

The UK is traditionally Cyprus’ biggest tourism market, but numbers are down amid travel restrictions in place until recently in the UK, compounded by a surge in cases here, though there are hopes of increased arrivals in autumn.

For the fourth year running, Post Office Travel Money research found that holidaymakers can expect to pay less for meals, drinks and other tourist staples in many of the world’s most popular resorts and cities.

The 15th annual Worldwide Holiday Costs Barometer found that prices have fallen in over three-quarters of the destinations surveyed.

Sunny Beach, Bulgaria emerged the cheapest of 46 destinations surveyed for the fourth consecutive year with a total of 27.71.

Turkey (Marmaris) was second with £37.19 and Portugal’s Algarve, third in Europe with £44.13 and also Eurozone’s cheapest resort area.

Prague came in fourth with £57.39 and Spain’s Costa del Sol a close fifth with £57.96. Funchal in Madeira was sixth with £62.11 followed by Paphos.

Sliema in Malta was eighth with £69.52 while Greece’s Corfu was 13^th with £91.01

The breakdown for Cyprus’ total of £66.74 was: dinner with wine £47.72, water £0.24, coffee £2.43, soft drink and beer £2.21 each, wine £2.92, insect repellent £3.37 and sun cream £5.65.

The Post Office Worldwide Holiday Costs Barometer was compiled with the help of national and regional tourist boards, specialist tour operators Balkan Holidays (Bulgaria) and Travelbag (various longhaul destinations) and Marmaris Info (Turkey).

A poll of more than 2,000 UK adults indicated that 44 per cent of families planning to travel abroad this year will budget more to allow for rising resort costs and coronavirus tests.

The tests required to enable tourists to enter their destination and return to the UK can add several hundred pounds per person to holiday bills.

“After such a long wait, it is understandable that families want to head to European beach resorts for some summer sun,” head of Post Office Travel Money Nick Boden said.

“However, the big variations we found between costs in European resorts means it will pay dividends to do some homework before leaving home to get a realistic view of the holiday cash needed in the resorts they are considering.”