Vacation Dollars: 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…

A vacation to the USA’s 20 most popular international destinations is getting Americans an average of 11% more in spending money than before the Pandemic

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).

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.