Finding Cheap Travel Destinations by Exchange Rate Shifts

In the past few years, I've several times thought of visiting Iceland for its scenic outdoor beauty but found it impossibly expensive so did not not go. Today a GlobeAdvisor article notes that tourists are flocking to Iceland because it has become very affordable as a result of the plummeting Icelandic kronur.

Though the Canadian dollar (CAD) has dropped significantly in the past year against the US dollar, other countries like Iceland have done so much worse that they have become much cheaper travel destinations. Iceland is not at all alone. Other countries whose currency have dropped significantly vs the CAD in the last year: Sweden (-17%), Poland (-25%), Ukraine (-33%) Hungary (-17%), the UK (-10%), Thailand (-9%) and South Korea (-9%). To quickly look at changes over any period from the last 3 months to 3 years check out the RatesFX CAD Visualization chart - the brighter the red the more the CAD has appreciated. Yahoo Finance has historical rates for more countries but it requires doing one at a time searches against individual currencies.

Of course, a drastically falling currency is often associated with inflation so it's necessary to check out actual prices before booking.

Even in places like Europe where the exchange rate has not changed much, the recession is causing good hotel, airline and restuarant deals to appear.

Out of the financial crisis comes opportunity. Instead of not travelling at all, this may be a fine time to get a bargain holiday.