Vacation Dollars: How Much More Vacation Spending Money You’re Getting for Your Dollars in a Post-Pandemic World

Our latest study reveals which destinations are getting you more spending money for your dollars when visiting as a tourist as a result of exchange rate fluctuations since before the Pandemic, with the value of the local currency you’ll get in some countries for $1,000 more than doubling.

How Much More Vacation Spending Money You’re Getting for Your Dollars in a Post-Pandemic World

Travel may be back, but exchange rates continue to go through turbulent times.

Some more than others.

And whilst that inevitably means that some countries are more expensive to visit, that’s absolutely not the case with all, as our latest research reveals.

The ongoing effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the latest economic uncertainties on exchange rates have been eye-opening to watch, and we wanted to understand how much more (or less) it’s costing tourists to visit their dream destinations in 2022, when compared to the last pre-Pandemic travel season; 2019.

And by taking a look at how much local currency $1000 got you in 2019 compared to today, across popular global destinations, we’re able to reveal just how much more (or less) your dollars are getting you on vacation.

Here at Travel Lens, we’ve taken the currencies of each of the USA’s most popular destinations, as well as those that come under the MEDC (more economically developed countries) grouping, to look at how things have changed in the spots where you’re most likely to vacation.

Might this influence where you travel to next? We think it just might…

When we dive deep into how much more (or less) local currency tourists are getting for their dollars in the 20 most popular international destinations with Americans, it’s great to see that, on average, it’s 11% more than in 2019.

Whilst there’s no getting around the fact that flights have increased in price, alongside accommodation and the cost of food, drink and things to do when overseas, it’s reassuring to know that this is somewhat offset by the fact that dollars are going further, in many destinations, than before the pandemic.

Here’s how the local currency you get for your dollars has changed in the USA’s 20 most popular destinations:

The strengthening of the dollar means that, in 16 of the 20 most visited destinations by Americans, you’re getting more in local currency than you were in 2019; definitely something that’s welcomed as we return to travel after a difficult few years.

Two of the most popular spots, Aruba and The Bahamas, have seen no change (we’ll welcome this over a decrease, for sure), and just two (China and Switzerland) will see tourists with less currency than in the past.

You’ll notice that many European countries have seen the same increase; that’s because they’re all member states using the Euro, which has seen a growth of 11.57%.

If you’ve been worrying that the cost of spending overseas is going up, it’s reassuring to see that it’s not necessarily the case when realizing that the dollar gets you more currency.

The countries where the value of $1,000 has increased the most since before the pandemic

Choose your vacation destination carefully. Some destinations are seeing you get way more currency for your dollars when compared to before the pandemic than others, with two popular destinations seeing tourists getting more than double than in 2019.

The countries where the value of $1,000 has changed the least (or dropped) since before the pandemic

Not all destinations have seen the same gains in exchange rates, however, and it’s important to carefully consider whether your trip could see you ending up with less currency for your dollars than in the past.

That said, only four destinations have seen the value of their currency drop against the dollar, neither of which feature in the list of most popular vacation spots for Americans.

Revealed: How Much More or Less Local Currency You’ll Get for Your Dollars in 57 Vacation Destinations

Want to see how your chosen destination stacks up and how much more or less you’ll get for your dollars?

Here’s a full listing of all 57 currencies we looked at (and don’t forget that the Euro is shared by 19 countries in Europe).

Rank Currency Name $1000 in 2019 $1000 in 2022 % Difference
1 TRY Turkish Lira ₺5,647.74 ₺18,499.11 227.55%
2 ARS Argentine Peso $57,570.85 $147,084.30 155.48%
3 HUF Hungarian Forint Ft306,948.61 Ft430,443.31 40.23%
4 JPY Japanese Yen ¥108,112 ¥144,442 33.60%
5 CLP Chilean Peso $728,594 $972,872 33.53%
6 COP Colombian Peso $3,479,663 $4,532,368 30.25%
7 BRL Brazilian Real R$4,161.67 R$5,393.57 29.60%
8 MUR Mauritian Rupee MURs36,222 MURs45,184 24.74%
9 THB Thai Baht ฿30,598.60 ฿37,945.70 24.01%
10 PLN Polish Zloty 4,005.46 zł 4,964.61 zł 23.95%
11 KZT Kazakhstani Tenge ₸388,750.23 ₸477,232.03 22.76%
12 BYN Belarusian Ruble 2,078.59 р. 2,519.83 р. 21.23%
13 KRW South Korean Won ₩1,199,001 ₩1,427,519 19.06%
14 NOK Norwegian Krone 9,083.21 kr 10,719.81 kr 18.02%
15 PEN Peruvian Sol S/.3,384.08 S/.3,959.73 17.01%
16 RON Romanian Leu RON4,351.52 RON5,062.30 16.33%
17 ISK Icelandic Krona kr123,855 kr143,519 15.88%
18 INR Indian Rupee ₹70,663.52 ₹81,538.37 15.39%
19 SEK Swedish Krona 9,829.67 kr 11,184.11 kr 13.78%
20 HRK Croatian Kuna kn6,790.57 kn7,699.24 13.38%
21 PHP Philippine Peso ₱51,828.50 ₱58,509.82 12.89%
22 JMD Jamaican Dollar $134,860.23 $151,764.79 12.53%
23 UYU Uruguayan Peso $36,879.71 $41,349.53 12.12%
24 EUR Euro €916.86 €1,022.96 11.57%
25 RSD Serbian Dinar din107,615 din119,978 11.49%
26 GBP British Pound £812.94 £904.98 11.32%
27 DKK Danish Krone 6,845.54 kr. 7,606.96 kr. 11.12%
28 MYR Malaysian Ringgit RM4,188.90 RM4,635.69 10.67%
29 NZD New Zealand Dollar $1,597.03 $1,752.09 9.71%
30 CRC Costa Rican Colon ₡582,881 ₡632,058 8.44%
31 CZK Czech Koruna 23,645.95 Kč 25,120.07 Kč 6.23%
32 AUD Australian Dollar $1,482.26 $1,540.86 3.95%
33 BND Bruneian Dollar $1,383.01 $1,434.71 3.74%
34 SGD Singapore Dollar $1,383.01 $1,434.71 3.74%
35 CAD Canadian Dollar $1,324.19 $1,369.89 3.45%
36 ILS Israeli Shekel ₪3,475.86 ₪3,559.24 2.40%
37 TWD Taiwan New Dollar $31,058.41 $31,707.75 2.09%
37 MXN Mexican Peso $19,737.87 $20,150.22 2.09%
39 KWD Kuwaiti Dinar din304.266 din310.024 1.89%
40 DOP Dominican Peso RD$52,100.22 RD$52,654.36 1.06%
41 TTD Trinidadian Dollar $6,775.86 $6,793.66 0.26%
42 OMR Omani Rial Rial384.500 Rial385.033 0.14%
43 HKD Hong Kong Dollar $7,840.19 $7,849.62 0.12%
44 MRU Mauritanian Ouguiya MRO37,392 MRO37,432 0.11%
45 AED Emirati Dirham dh3,672.50 dh3,672.50 0.00%
45 AWG Aruban or Dutch Guilder NAf.1,790.00 NAf.1,790.00 0.00%
45 BBD Barbadian or Bajan Dollar $2,000.00 $2,000.00 0.00%
45 BHD Bahraini Dinar din376.000 din376.000 0.00%
45 BSD Bahamian Dollar $1,000.00 $1,000.00 0.00%
45 CUC Cuban Convertible Peso $1,000.0 $1,000.0 0.00%
45 PAB Panamanian Balboa B/.1,000.00 B/.1,000.00 0.00%
45 QAR Qatari Riyal Rial3,640.00 Rial3,640.00 0.00%
45 SAR Saudi Arabian Riyal SAR3,750.00 SAR3,750.00 0.00%
45 USD US Dollar $1,000.00 $1,000.00 0.00%
55 CNY Chinese Yuan Renminbi ¥7,148.87 ¥7,125.59 -0.33%
56 CHF Swiss Franc CHF997.45 CHF979.61 -1.79%
57 GEL Georgian Lari GEL2,979.94 GEL2,834.68 -4.87%
58 RUB Russian Ruble 64,849.57 ₽ 57,562.28 ₽ -11.24%

Methodology:

We began by collecting currency data for a list of all MEDC countries and the USA’s 30 most popular destinations (as well as the addition of Cuba, Barbados and Jamaica; three popular Caribbean destinations), using XE’s Historical Rates Tables to find 2019 exchange rates from before the pandemic, and then 2022 exchange rates from after the pandemic.

This data is accurate as of 30/09/2022.

We were able to compare the exchange rates to the dollar, using conversion methods on Google Sheets to find the total value of each currency for $1000. We were able to rank each currency by its monetary value compared to the US dollar.

We then compared the 2019 and 2022 data to find out which countries’ currencies had increased/decreased the most in value from before and after the pandemic.



💌
Spotted a mistake, have some feedback, or just want to chat with our editorial team? Click here to get in touch.
✍️
Find out more about Travel Lens and read our editorial guidelines here.