Danielle Cullen - Managing Director, Elia Tours
BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA – The weak Australian dollar means that vacations to Australia are cheaper than ever. In fact, with the current favourable exchange rate and discount flights available it may work out cheaper for holiday-makers to spend their next vacation in Australia than to stay at home in Japan.
The current exchange rate is around ¥65 to $1 AUD, compared to ¥93 to $1 AUD this time last year – meaning vacations are now 30% cheaper than they have been in previous years.
And with discount flight companies such as Jet Star offering return flights from as little as ¥23,000 each way Australia really is becoming a bargain holiday destination.
So how does it compare to taking a vacation in Japan? We looked at some general sightseeing tours to compare prices.
In Japan, JTB offer a 9 day general sightseeing tour for ¥309,200. Other companies such as Atlas offer similar tours from ¥345,600. All tours include accommodation, some meals and activities.
In Australia, Elia Tours offer a variety of 10 day tours including general sightseeing, horse riding and learning to scuba dive on the Great Barrier Reef. The ‘Learn to Scuba Dive’ tour is currently priced at ¥197,275 which includes accommodation, some meals and all activities including the scuba diving course.
Even adding the cost of flights onto the vacation cost, an Australian vacation is still cheaper than the equivalent in Japan.
To take advantage of this favorable economic situation, independent booking is recommended. This is because travel agents often have fixed prices which won’t necessarily be decreasing in line with the exchange rates.
By booking directly with airlines and tour operators and paying the Australian dollar value, consumers will be able to take direct advantage of this economic situation.
Photo:
http://www.prlog.org/
