We frequently visit southern Spain and Tenerife and have noted the increase in prices over the years especially since the demise of the pesata. This has resulted in our holiday spending budget having to be squeezed and more resently increased. Our recent visit to Makrigialos was a suprise as the common prices of interest while on holiday had decreased since our last visit. Alcohol and food prices were cheaper so the budget based on our Spanish experiences went a lot further.
Pounds and Euros - Why Makrigialos is still a good value destination
Last Updated on Sunday, 31 May 2009 17:43
With exchange rates doing few favours for the British holiday-maker seeking a holiday in the Euro-zone, there has been plenty of headline advice in the media to abandon old favourites, such as Greece, in favour of destinations outside of the Euro-zone, such as Turkey and Egypt. Dig a little deeper, however, and the decision is not so clear cut. An improving exchange rate, and comparative costs, still make Makrigialos good value for the British visitor.
An article published in February by MSN Money suggested that whilst destinations outside the Euro-zone, such as Egypt and Turkey, involve relatively expensive longer haul flights, they are cheaper once you get there. Search statistics published in May by the flight search engine Skyscanner indicates that British holiday-makers are taking this to heart, with three Turkish destinations - Dalaman, Istanbul and Bodrum - and one Egyptian destination - Sharm El Sheik - appearing in the top ten fastest growing destinations of interest. By the end of May, Skyscanner was reporting a 20% swing from Greece to Turkey in search traffic amongst British holiday-makers.
However, whilst still not comparable with exchange rates last year, which averaged €1.27* during the summer season, the pound has rallied from it's near parity at the beginning of the year, to nearly €1.15* at the time of writing. Furthermore, destinations in the Euro-zone affected by the fall in interest from British holiday-makers have reacted by reducing prices, whilst those outside the Euro-zone are raising theirs. In January the Sunday Times reported that, with the average price of a family holiday having risen by 18% generally, the average price for a holiday to Bodrum had risen by 40%, to Dalaman by 27%, and to Sharm El Sheik by 17%. The average price of a family holiday to Greece, by comparison, had risen by only 8%.
Meanwhile, the same Sunday Times article, reporting on the Post Office's annual Holiday Costs Barometer for 2009, shows that the cost of 10 standard holiday items in Egypt have risen by 183% over the past year. The Post Office figures (which used a 28th April exchange rate of £1 = €1.11) indicate that the same selection of items, ranging from a cup of coffee to a three-course evening meal for two, is only £4.62 cheaper in Turkey than in Greece. Having said this, it prices cafe/bar prices in Greece at: £3.83 for a cup of coffee; £4.79 for a bottle of lager; and £3.35 for a bottle or can of coke. Here in Makrigialos, using the same exchange rate used in the Post Office survey, you can expect to pay around £1.80 for the coffee, £2.25 (or less) to £2.70 for the beer, and £1.80 for the coke. Furthermore, although anecdotal, a conversation last night with a British ex-pat couple now resident in Makrigialos revealed that a typical price of an evening meal for two, with wine, in a local restaurant is around €30 (£27), making the evening some £11 cheaper than the figure given by the Post Office for Greece. Take into account the continued rally of the pound against the euro since the Post Office survey (at least at the time of writing), and a holiday in Euro-zone Makrigialos stacks up better than the headlines would have you think.
As Skyscanner comments "...a lot of the anti-eurozone sentiment around at present is based on perception rather than reality...People have this idea in their heads that anywhere in the eurozone is expensive and anywhere outside the eurozone is cheap – but it’s just not true."
See our travel page for information and resources to help plan your holiday in Makrigialos.
* Based on exchange rates looked up at Oanda.com