(VNF) - Netherland-based online travel specialists, TravelBird, have released their annual Beach Price Index, featuring more than 300 seaside locations from 70 countries around the globe. And Vietnam has most affordable beaches in the world.

Cua Dai Beach in Hoi An. (Source: Internet)

On a year-to-year basis, the price of a beach holiday can change substantially when you take into account factors such as currency fluctuation and inflation. As a company which prides itself on inspiring travellers, TravelBird ranked the beaches in order to provide holidaymakers with the information they need to make a smart decision when booking.

TravelBird first examined an extensive catalogue of the world’s most popular beaches, before reducing this to a final shortlist of just over 300 locations, ranked on the cost of spending a day at each. To calculate their affordability, the price of five essentials were then researched for each destination: the cost of a bottle of sun cream (200ml), a bottle of water (500ml), a beer (33 cl bottle), lunch (including drink and dessert for one person), and an ice cream. The sum of these five essentials determined the final affordability ranking of each seaside location. All prices were calculated by standardising the sizes of products, and with monetary transactions true to exchange rates on 1^st June 2017.

“It is very interesting for travellers who are planning their trip to see how much the price of spending a day at the beach varies across the world. There are many useful tips in here. One to easily forget, currency fluctuations can make a big difference in the actual cost of your holiday, so keep those in mind. For example, beaches in the UK have become almost 10 per cent more affordable for continental European visitors due to the decline of the pound after the Brexit referendum,” said TravelBird CEO Steven Klooster.

“Also, if you are keen on enjoying local food on the beach, pick Vietnam for instance, where you can enjoy delicious local food on the beach that is very affordable. Another one: in some places you pay a lot for sunscreen, up to 3 times more than you would pay in The Netherlands, so make sure you take some with you!”

Long Beach in Phu Quoc. (Source: Internet)

According to the rankings, Vietnam came first for cheapest beach holidays, while the world’s most expensive ones are found in the Pacific region and Italy.

Of all the beaches, the three cheapest spots are in Vietnam – Cua Dai Beach in Hoi An Ancient Town, the central province of Quang Nam (EUR 13.44 or USD 15.7 for all six items); City Beach in Nha Trang city, the south central province of Khanh Hoa (EUR 14.47 or USD 16.9); and Long Beach in Phu Quoc, the resort island of the Mekong Delta province of Kien Giang (EUR 16.03 or USD 18.7).

Cua Dai Beach, which is 7.6km long and about 5km from Hoi An's old quarter, is a popular destination for tourists visiting the ancient city. It costs a holidaymaker about EUR 2.07 (USD 2.4) for 200ml of SPF 30 sunscreen bottle from a local store; EUR 0.37 (USD 0.43) for a 500ml bottle of water, EUR 1.6 (USD 1.8) for a bottle of beer and EUR 0.87 (USD 1.01) for an ice cream on the beach.

Meanwhile, lunch, including a drink and dessert for one person from a beach bar or the closet establishments to the beach, typically cost an average of EUR 7.43 (USD 8.68) and facility fee is at EUR 1.10 (USD 1.28) in average.

The beach was also named the world’s cheapest by TravelBird in 2016 and 2017.

For the most expensive, beach-goers must pay a total of EUR 78.57 (USD 91.8) for all six items in Anse Vata Beach in Noumea, New Caledonia, a special collectivity of France in the southwest Pacific Ocean. It is followed by Finale Ligure, Liguria in Italy (EUR 76.59 or USD 89.49) and Yonaha Maehama Beach, Okinawa in Japan (EUR 70.32 or USD 82.16)./.

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