| PRESSRELEASE 15 May 2009 Malaysia named world's least expensive holiday destinationMalaysia named world's least expensive holiday destination for third year running. For the third year running, Malaysia has been ranked the world's least expensive holiday destination in currency exchange company X-Change's annual holiday index. Even so, just 1 in 10 Seat24 customer chooses Malaysia ahead of Thailand as their holiday destination, even though the countries have many similarities. Malaysia has been ranked the least expensive country to holiday in for the third year running on X-Change's annual holiday index. The holiday index is an annual survey of actual costs in about 50 countries. In addition to current exchange rates, the survey takes into account the price of common holiday expenses in different countries. This helps Swedish travellers find out where they can get the most out of their holiday budget. Malaysia instead of Thailand for holidays Thailand is one of the most popular destinations for Swedes on holiday but few choose to travel to neighbouring country Malaysia, even though the countries are very similar. So far this year, ten times as many Seat24 customers have chosen to travel to Thailand than to Malaysia. The two countries have much in common: they are both about the same distance from Sweden, their climates are the same, their beaches are equally nice and their food is equally good. The reason for the big difference in their popularity as holiday destinations can be summed up in a single word: timing. "Thailand was introduced to Scandinavian travellers as an exotic, distant destination as early as the mid 1990s. The target group was ready to test a new, exciting country and so the success of Thailand as a holiday destination was a given. Malaysia hasn't really been able to catch up with Thailand yet," explains Marléne Wallberg, Marketing Director at eTRAVELi. Malaysia is a less expensive holiday destination than Thailand, which placed only ninth on the holiday index. Malaysia's capital, Kuala Lumpur, also offers the world's best value for money when it comes to hotels. "Travelling to Malaysia could be the perfect alternative for anyone who wants to travel a bit less expensively, but still wants to visit a very popular region. Right now we are offering special deals on flights to Kuala Lumpur for travel through September. The prices for tickets flying Malaysian Airlines start at SEK 4,270," adds Wallberg. For more information, please contact: Marléne Wallberg, Marketing Director, eTRAVELi Ph: +46 (0)733-12 80 90 E-mail: marlene.wallberg@etraveli.com About Seat24 Seat24 is a Swedish company. Since its founding in 2000, it has grown to become one of the leading Internet-based travel agencies in the Nordic region. The company, which sells more than 1,000 tickets daily, cooperates with around 650 airlines around the world and arranges travel to nearly 1,500 different destinations. Seat24 is currently active in Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland and Germany and is part of the eTRAVELi travel group. The group recorded a turnover of SEK 3.1 billion in 2008. Its headquarters are located in Uppsala, Sweden. For more information, please visit www.seat24.se |
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