With summer just around the corner, many residents in the UAE are getting ready to jet off to holiday destinations abroad. If you’re still undecided where to travel next, it pays to know which places overseas can stretch your hard-earned dirham a little further.
Budget-savvy travellers know that one of the fundamentals of keeping the travel money afloat is to ensure they get the most out of their currency when they spend it overseas.
To help UAE expatriates and other Gulf travellers figure out the best getaways for their wallet, the team at Travelex has recently put together a top ten list of holiday hotspots around the world where they can get more “bang for their buck”.
Travelex collated the exchange rates and did the math to find out how much the value of the currencies in the Gulf, particularly the UAE dirham, Bahraini dinar and Qatari riyal, have gained against those of other countries over the period of one year, between May 3, 2015 and May 2, 2016.
According to Travelex, Namibia tops the list, with the Gulf currencies edging up 20 per cent, on average, relative to the dollar at this time last year.
“If exchanging Dh5,000, a traveller will now get an extra 3,063 Namibian dollar (equivalent to Dh830) compared to last year if travelling to the African nation, which provides beautiful and largely untouched landscapes,” said Travelex.
It’s also worth considering traveling to South Africa. With the UAE dirham up 20 per cent against the rand, dirham-earning travellers will feel richer than they did a year ago. Besides, maximum temperatures in the region average 19 degrees Celsius, while rains get frequent during the period between May and August, offering UAE residents a chance to escape the scorching summer heat.
Rounding up the top five dirham-friendly destinations are Mexico, Tanzania and Brazil, all offering 10 per cent or more in exchange for Gulf currencies, compared with the same period last year.
The UAE dirham and other GCC currencies are also valued higher in other countries that complete the top ten list: Malaysia (10%), New Zealand (8%), Polish Zloty (5%), Thailand (6%) and Philippines (5%).
Travelers are, however, told that it’s always useful to keep not only cash in their wallets. “Hold a mixture of cash and cards to cover all eventualities and split up your payment methods, leaving a back-up in your accommodation,” advised Errol Fonseca, Travelex’s head of retail.
“In certain locations, ATMs are few and far between and can be out of action, so it’s important to take at least a small amount of the local currency, so you can pay for small incidentals such as a taxi from the airport or a bottle of water.”
By Cleofe Maceda
Current exchange rate May 2, 2016 compared to May 3, 2015 | |||
Currencies which the dirham has strengthened against, in order of % increase compared to this time last year | Value of extra currency received* | ||
Namibian dollar | 20% | 830 | |
2 | South African rand | 20% | 827 |
3 | Brazilian real | 16% | 689 |
4 | Mexican peso | 12% | 532 |
5 | Tanzanian shilling | 10% | 455 |
6 | Malaysian ringgit | 10% | 462 |
7 | New Zealand dollar | 6% | 386 |
8 | Polish zloty | 6% | 268 |
9 | Thai baht | 9% | 263 |
10 | Philippine peso | 5% | 257 |
