TEMPO.CO, Jakarta – Traveling is often not cheap for some people. Tourists need to save up to be able to go to their dream destination, especially those known to be expensive. Aside from airfare and hotels, tourists also end up spending money on shopping. In which country do tourists spend the most on shopping?
It’s not Milan or Paris that are famously known as fashion cities; according to the travel site Go2Africa, the country where tourists shop the most is a small country in Europe, Luxembourg.
According to the Luxembourg City Tourist Office, the city is considered comfortable for shopping. Travelers can stroll through the pedestrian zones in the city center and enter various local stores as well as well-known brands in fashion, beauty and health, food, household items, and entertainment. Several times a year, there are special weekend sales at the stores.
How to Determine Rankings
As reported by USA Today, Go2Africa determines which destinations drain tourists’ pockets the most by looking at the number of tourists in a country and dividing it by the total tourism income in 2024. The data was collected by official tourism bodies, ministries, and reports.
“This data shows something unexpected by most tourists: the average expenditure of tourists in a country is one of the best indicators of how expensive your trip will be when you arrive,” said Megan Dominion, a spokesperson for Go2Africa, in a statement. “Checking the average expenditure per tourist before booking is an easy way to immediately tell you whether you are heading to a budget-friendly place or a slightly more expensive destination.”
In Luxembourg, the average tourist spends $5,112 or about Rp85 million. Apart from Luxembourg, other countries with the highest tourist expenditures are Lebanon with $4,155 or about Rp69.3 million. Next is Saint Lucia with $2,984 or about Rp49.7 million.
Minimal Shopping
As for the countries with the least shopping by tourists, they are Vatican with $15 or about Rp250,000, Eswatini with $21 or about Rp350,000, and Algeria with $37 or about Rp616,700
This does not mean that if the cost of a destination is low, it means that the destination is not worth visiting. The cause could be that the tourism industry is less commercial, visits are usually shorter, or indeed the cost of living is cheap.
“Tourists should also not only consider how much they will spend in a location, but also where their money goes,” said Megan. “In some destinations, expenditures support large international operators, while in other destinations, expenditures flow directly to the local community and conservation projects.”
Read: Top 10 Most Expensive Cities in Europe, from Luxembourg to London
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