By: visas / January 15, 2024

2023 was a topsy-turvy year for South Africans as they attempted to grapple with a volatile currency, its worst year of rolling blackouts to date, and a seemingly ever-increasing cost of living.

At the start of the year, the rand was trading at around R17 to the dollar, but ended 2023 at around R18.30.

While a weaker rand is good news for international tourists wanting to visit the country as they take advantage of the lower prices, it often proves more difficult for South Africans wanting to travel overseas.

However, there are still several countries where it is still relatively inexpensive for South Africans to travel in 2024 based on currency conversions.

Due to the fact that direct currency conversion does not always indicate the general cost of living, we also compared the cost of food, drinks and travel to what you would pay locally.

The costs of food, drinks and travel in these countries were done using data from Numbeo – one of the world’s largest database of user-contributed data regarding cities and countries worldwide.

The base cost of the various measures in South Africa are listed below for comparison purposes:

• Eating out at an inexpensive restaurant for one: R150
• Cappuccino: R34.20
• Draught Beer (500ml): R36.50
• Average taxi trip (per kilometre): R20

Note: These comparisons focus more on travel and touring rather than general living costs, and conversions were done January 9th, 2024.

Argentina (Buenos Aires) 

• R1 will buy you: 43,64 Argentine pesos
• Eating out at an inexpensive restaurant for one: R129.72 ($5,660.92)
• Cappuccino: R28.97 ($1,264.15)
• Draught Beer (500ml): R29.19 ($1,273.70)
• Average taxi trip (per kilometre): R14.82 ($646.84)

---

Colombia (Bogotá) 

• R1 will buy you: 208.28 Colombian pesos
• Eating out at an inexpensive restaurant for one: R91.22 ($19,000)
• Cappuccino: R28.50 ($5,936.97)
• Draught Beer (500ml): R21.61 ($4,500)
• Average taxi trip (per kilometre): R28.81 ($6,000)

---

Czech Republic (Prague)

• R1 will buy you: 1.2 Czech korunas
• Eating out at an inexpensive restaurant for one: R183.28 (220 Kč)
• Cappuccino: R59.62 (71.57 Kč)
• Draught Beer (500ml): R45.82 (55 Kč)
• Average taxi trip (per kilometre): R29.16 (35 Kč)

---

Egypt (Cairo) 

• R1 will buy you: 1.66 Egyptian pounds
• Eating out at an inexpensive restaurant for one: R90.56 (E£150)
• Cappuccino: R37.42 (E£61.98 )
• Draught Beer (500ml): R30.19 (E£50)
• Average taxi trip (per kilometre): R3.02 (E£5)

---

Hungary (Budapest)

• R1 will buy you: 18.56 Hungarian forint
• Eating out at an inexpensive restaurant for one: R215.56 (4,000 Ft)
• Cappuccino: R44.81 (831.43 Ft)
• Draught Beer (500ml): R53.89 (1000 Ft)
• Average taxi trip (per kilometre): R23.71 (440 Ft)

---

India (New Delhi)

• R1 will buy you: 4.46 Indian rupees
• Eating out at an inexpensive restaurant for one: R89.75 (₹400.00)
• Cappuccino: R39.43 (₹175.72)
• Draught Beer (500ml): R33.66 (₹150)
• Average taxi trip (per kilometre): R5.61 (₹25)

---

Japan (Tokyo)

• R1 will buy you: 7.71 Japanese yen
• Eating out at an inexpensive restaurant for one: R129.63 (¥1,000)
• Cappuccino: R54.18 (¥418)
• Draught Beer (500ml): R45.37 (¥350)
• Average taxi trip (per kilometre): R57.04 (¥440)

---

Kenya (Nairobi)

• R1 will buy you: 8.48 Kenyan Shilling
• Eating out at an inexpensive restaurant for one: R67.82 (Ksh 575)
• Cappuccino: R37.25 (Ksh 315.82)
• Draught Beer (500ml): R29.48 (Ksh 250)
• Average taxi trip (per kilometre): R18.87 (Ksh 160)

---

Mauritius (Port Louis)

• R1 will buy you: 2.42 Mauritian rupees
• Eating out at an inexpensive restaurant for one: R124.20 (Rs300)
• Cappuccino: R42.48 (Rs102.60)
• Draught Beer (500ml): R41.40 (Rs100)
• Average taxi trip (per kilometre): R44.92 (Rs 108.50)

---

Mozambique (Maputo)

• R1 will buy you: 3.39 Mozambican metical
• Eating out at an inexpensive restaurant for one: R236.01 (MT 800)
• Cappuccino: R36,28 (MT 122.97)
• Draught Beer (500ml): R22.86 (MT 77.50)
• Average taxi trip (per kilometre): R73.75 (MT 250)

---

Philippines (Manila)

• R1 will buy you: 3 Philippine peso
• Eating out at an inexpensive restaurant for one: R83.20 (₱250)
• Cappuccino: R55.36 (₱166.36)
• Draught Beer (500ml): R23.29 (₱70.00)
• Average taxi trip (per kilometre): R4,49(₱13.5)

---

South Korea (Seoul)

• R1 will buy you: 70.67 South Korean won
• Eating out at an inexpensive restaurant for one: R141.50 (₩10,000)
• Cappuccino: R74.06 (₩5,233.71)
• Draught Beer (500ml): R70.75 (₩5000)
• Average taxi trip (per kilometre): R12.74 (₩900)

---

Sri Lanka (Colombo)

• R1 will buy you: 17,28 Sri Lankan Rupee
• Eating out at an inexpensive restaurant for one: R57.88 (Rs 1000)
• Cappuccino: R38.59 (Rs 666.77)
• Draught Beer (500ml): R28.94 (Rs 500)
• Average taxi trip (per kilometre): R5.79 (Rs 100)

---

Thailand (Bangkok)

• R1 will buy you: 1.87 Thai baht
• Eating out at an inexpensive restaurant for one: R53.39 (฿100)
• Cappuccino: R43.48 (฿81.44)
• Draught Beer (500ml): R42.71 (฿80)
• Average taxi trip (per kilometre): R21.36 (฿40)

---

Turkey/Türkiye (Ankara) 

• R1 will buy you: 1.60 Turkish lira
• Eating out at an inexpensive restaurant for one: R124.62 (₺200)
• Cappuccino: R41.29 (₺66.26)
• Draught Beer (500ml): R49.85 (₺80)
• Average taxi trip (per kilometre): R9.35 (₺15)

---

Venezuela (Caracas)

• R1 will buy you: 1.93 Sovereign Bolivar
• Eating out at an inexpensive restaurant for one: R186.28 (Bs. 359.07)
• Cappuccino: R38.97 (Bs. 75.12)
• Draught Beer (500ml): R27.94 (Bs. 53,86)
• Average taxi trip (per kilometre): R37.26 (Bs. 71.82)

Article from:

https://businesstech.co.za/news/trending/741125/16-countries-you-can-travel-to-where-the-rand-is-stronger-in-2024/?fbclid=IwAR1U1nmBW_1CJUjtVYz_myWB-yfMgKOJRsm4tagkN0mLlTeR8U0ZWsoxZKE