We have good news for Australians in Rio de Janeiro, they are in the best financial position when buying in Brazil’s second largest city compared to other tourists. The Olympic Games is upon us and as Rio de Janeiro sees its tourist numbers swell, we’ve taken a look at which travellers’ dollar goes the furthest.
So how does our study work? We’ve compared equivalent costs for a few tourist essentials, including Opening Ceremony tickets, accommodation, coffee, beer, a tourist activity, and a McDonalds meal, to understand which country comes out better off. We looked at what the typical cost of each these activities in Brazilian real, then looked at the currency exchange rates* and compared the day’s cost against that countries monthly average salary.
Comparing costs for Australia and its biggest foreign exchange partners shows that while the US dollar, British pound and euro all have more favourable exchange rates for the Brazilian real, Australia’s higher average income and competitive rate means an Aussie traveler can expect to have the most cash to spare.
The average Australian will spend only 14% of their monthly income after tax in Rio de Janeiro on a typical tourist’s day. The US isn’t far behind, spending only 16%. Brazilians actually fared the worst, with the cost totalling a massive 79% of their monthly income. UK, Europe, NZ, China and Japan were also featured in the comparison.
But while the cost of the trip might be most comfortable for those from down under, they won’t see the most return on a trip to McDonalds. Europe’s Germany pays 8% less for a Big Mac combo in Brazil than on their home turf, while Aussies will only see a 5% increase in cost.
All the other countries mentioned are better off buying McDonald’s at home, where it costs less than in Brazil.
From all the team at World First, enjoy the Olympics!
*Currency rates were taken from the interbank rates on 29/07/16.
[1] Costs based on Germany’s exchange rate as the country with the largest population in the European Union
[2] Mid-tier ticket price sourced from https://ingressos.rio2016.com/rio2016.html
[3] Price an average of range shown on http://www.priceoftravel.com/28/brazil/rio-de-janeiro-prices
[4] Pricing for tour on 4th August 2016 for one adult sourced from https://www.viator.com
[5] Pricing average of pricing offered for 500ml of domestic beer and 330ml of imported beer
[6] Average income taken from Brazil as a country, not Rio de Janeiro specifically. Income sourced from Numbeo at http://www.numbeo.com/ July 29th, 2016 unless stated otherwise.
WHILST INFORMATION HAS BEEN OBTAINED FROM AND IS BASED UPON MULTIPLE SOURCES THE AUTHOR BELIEVES TO BE RELIABLE, WE DO NOT GUARANTEE ITS ACCURACY AND IT MAY BE INCOMPLETE OR CONDENSED.
ALL OPINIONS AND ESTIMATES CONSTITUTE THE AUTHOR’S OWN JUDGMENT AS OF THE DATE OF THE BRIEFING AND ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE.