Penang Ranked the 19th Cheapest Holiday Destination in the World!

For many Malaysians, travelling is no longer be considered a past time but rather a way of life.

But seeing that Malaysians aren’t the most well off bunch and are also some of the biggest cheapskates, travelling economically might not be the easiest thing.

But fret not! Insider recently released its ‘Ranked’ article that featured 19 cheapest holiday destination in the world right now, and Penang is listed as one of them!

The destinations are chosen based on data from the Post Office Travel Money’s annual Holiday Money report’s annual Worldwide Holiday Costs Barometer and compared eight tourist staple items.

The items on the list are a meal for two, a cup of coffee, a bottle of beer, a Coca-Cola, a glass of wine, a bottle of water, sun cream and insect repellent.

Calculating the total cost for each destination, a total of 19 were listed from Tokyo to Turkey.

But what’s most interesting is the fact that Penang, Malaysia was ranked at 19^th with the total cost of travel pitted at $107.89 or RM441.76. Time to cuti-cuti Malaysia!

Here’s how much Penang costs:

• a cup of coffee: $3.47 (RM14.21)
• a bottle of local beer: $6.83 (RM27.97)
• a bottle/can of Coke or Pepsi: $1.77 (RM7.25)
• a glass of wine: $7.60 (RM31.12)
• a 1.5l bottle of mineral water: $0.76 (RM3.11)
• Sun cream: $14.87 (RM60.89)
• Insect repellent: $3.01 (RM12.32)
• And a three-course meal for two (including a bottle of house wine): $69.58 (RM284.90)

Sure by Malaysian standards the price point is not THAT cheap, but hey, that’s why it’s 19^th and not #1.

Several destinations on the list are common destinations for Malaysians – namely, #17 Phuket (Thailand), #11 Hoi An (Vietnam) and #10 Bali (Indonesia).

But nothing beats the cheapest destination on the list, Sunny Beach, Bulgaria which only costs a whopping $45.01 to travel.

In Sunny Beach, Bulgaria,

• a cup of coffee: $0.92 (RM3.77)
• a bottle of local beer: $0.74 (RM3.03)
• a bottle/can of Coke or Pepsi: $0.92 (RM3.77)
• a glass of wine: $1.54 (RM6.31)
• a 1.5l bottle of mineral water: $0.49 (RM2.01)
• Sun cream: $3.06 (RM12.53)
• insect repellent: $3.06 (RM12.53)
• and a three-course meal for two (including a bottle of house wine): $34.28 (RM140.36).

Check out the list and tell us your travel plans this year!

Also read: Malaysia Ranked the Third Most Popular Asian Travel Destination in 2018