N.Z. still a cheapie

Press, 30 March 1985, Page 4

N.Z. still a cheapie

NZPA London New Zealand is one of the cheapest countries in the world for business travellers, ranking below Swaziland and Spain and not much above the least expensive, Portugal. Only four countries — Venezuela, Cyprus, Morocco and Portugal — are cheaper than New Zealand, according to a survey of 75 countries by the trade advisory company Employment Conditions Abroad, Ltd (E.C.A.). The survey showed that a

business traveller could stay in a four-star hotel in Wellington, have a meal at a top-class restaurant, take two taxi trips, and buy a newspaper or send an air letter home all for SNZISO. To do the same in the most expensive country, Iraq, would cost $462. Nigeria is slightly cheaper at $459, while a stop in Libya would cost $413 a day. New York ranked fifth at $393, Stockholm sixteenth at $319, and London thirtieth at $260.

At the bottom end of the list, Morocco would cost $l3B and Portugal $122. According to E.C.A., a four-star hotel in Wellington cost $BO a night, compared with $237 in Tripoli (Libya) and $43 in Casablanca (Morocco).

A meal for one at a top Wellington restaurant cost between $35 and $45, a far cry from the $l6B demanded in Bagdad (Iraq). A good meal was $lO5 in New York and $64 in London, while Casablanca and Lisbon were both about $4O.