New Delhi :  TripAdvisor , the world’s largest travel site*, today unveils the inaugural TripIndexTM Room Service 2013 – a cost-comparison of common incidental items and services that travellers purchase when staying at a hotel, across key destinations around the world.

TripAdvisor’s TripIndex Room Service is tracked against the Indian Rupee and is based on the combined cost of a club sandwich ordered on room service, a bottle of water, peanuts, a mini bottle of vodka, a can of coke from the mini bar, and the dry cleaning of one shirt.  All costs are taken from top TripAdvisor rated 4-star hotels in each featured destination.

According to Nikhil Ganju, Country Manager TripAdvisor (India): “While we bear in mind the cost of a room night when planning our travel, we often forget to account for incidentals incurred at the hotel for services like in-room dining and laundry. The cost comparison of these popular items from hotels around the world gives a quick overview to travellers of how far their budget can take them.”

He further added, “Mumbai has emerged as the third-most affordable destination on the TripIndex Room Service. As the focus on inbound tourism grows, this certainly works in our favour since affordability has been an important factor in drawing leisure travellers from all over the world to India.”

The most affordable destination for Indian travellers, according to the TripIndex™ Room Service, is Cape Town in South Africa with a TripIndex totalling Rs.1049.73, followed by Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt with a total TripIndex of Rs.1272.67. Moscow (Russia) is four times the cost of Cape Town (South Africa), the most expensive on the list with a TripIndex value of Rs.4417.07, closely followed by Paris (France) at Rs.3678.02.

Mumbai: pocket friendly destination

TripAdvisor’s TripIndex Room Service reveals Mumbai (India) to be the third least expensive city in the world. On an average, Moscow (Russia) is nearly three times costlier than Mumbai (India) for most of the TripIndex Room Service items. For example, a club sandwich costs Rs.395.20 in Mumbai (India) while in Moscow (Russia) the sandwich can cost you as much as Rs.1161.69. Similarly, a bottle of water in Mumbai (India) is available for Rs.112 while in Moscow (Russia) it is for Rs.353.37.

Africa ahoy for the Indian explorer

Africa emerges as easy on the travel budget for Indian leisure seekers with 3 cities – Cape Town (South Africa), Sharm-el-Sheikh (Egypt) and Marrakech (Morocco), in the list of 10 least expensive cities on the index. Cape Town (South Africa) is the cheapest destination on the list for a can of coke and a mini vodka bottle while Sharm el-Sheikh (Egypt) is the most economical for dry cleaning charges for a shirt. Priced similarly at Rs.99.50 each, you can choose between a bottle of water and a can of coke to quench your thirst in Cape Town.

Closer to home, some of the cheaper destinations Indians can explore in Asia are Jakarta (Indonesia) and Taipei (Taiwan) placed at 8th and 10th respectively, on the list of least expensive cities. At the same time, Singapore, with a total TripIndex Room Service cost of Rs.3122.67, is the costliest city for hotel amenities in Asia.

Europe dear to Indians

Europe dominates the list of the 10 most expensive cities for Indian travellers on the TripIndex Room Service list, featuring 6 cities including Paris (France), Stockholm (Sweden), Oslo (Norway), Zurich (Switzerland) and Helsinki (Finland). However, Indians keen to head to Europe might find Istanbul (Turkey), Budapest (Hungry) and Sofia (Bulgaria) to be more affordable destinations as they feature among the 10 least expensive places on the list.

Similar items, vastly different prices across destinations

TripIndex Room Service shows significant cost differences between cities for all items.

Club sandwich –Think twice before you grab a bite in Zurich (Switzerland) hotels, where the cost of a club sandwich ordered can set you back by Rs.1551.69 while Sofia (Bulgaria) has the cheapest club sandwich at Rs.294.04.

Bottle of water – Quenching your thirst is not cheap in Oslo (Norway) hotels with a bottle of water costing Rs.435.15. In contrast, in both Hong Kong (China) and Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) all the hotels contacted provided bottled water free of charge.

Peanuts – At Rs.662.56 Moscow (Russia) is the most costly for peanuts from the mini-bar. The snack is over seven times cheaper at hotels in Puerto Vallarta (Mexico) at Rs.85.21.

Can of coke – A can of coke from the hotel mini-bar is most expensive in Oslo (Norway) at Rs.421.61– over four times that of the cheapest in the list, Rs.99.5 in Cape Town (South Africa).

Mini bottle of vodka – The most expensive destination for a mini bottle of vodka is Stockholm (Sweden), costing Rs.961.04; nearly eight times that of the cheapest in the list, Rs.169.15 in Cape Town (South Africa). Interestingly, despite vodka’s popularity as Russia’s favourite drink, Moscow (Russia) is second in the list of most expensive cities to enjoy a vodka bottle from the mini bar. It costs Rs.918.75 per bottle in the Russian capital.

Dry cleaning of one shirt – Hotels in Sharm el-Sheikh (Egypt) have the lowest charge to dry clean one shirt at Rs.150.88 compared to Moscow (Russia), where the service is more than six times higher, at Rs.940.83 per shirt.