South Africans had a difficult 2019 – dealing with one of the world’s most volatile currencies, high petrol prices, and a rising cost of living.

The local currencies volatility was further exacerbated by the Trump vs China trade war, an emerging market sell-off, and Brexit.

Despite these issues, the rand has started 2020 on the front foot, with sentiment towards emerging markets broadly boosted by US president Donald Trump’s announcement on the signing of a trade deal with China, and on higher commodity prices.

As the currency is likely to endure more volatility in the year ahead, now may be the ideal time to take advantage of a stronger rand to travel.

Below BusinessTech looked at some of the most popular travel destinations cities, and what R100 can buy you around the world right now.

As of 3 January 2020, R100 will buy you:

UK: £5.38

USA: $7.06

Australia: AU$10.14

Germany: €6.32

Brazil: R$ 28.43

China: 49.25 Yuan

Dubai: 25.94 dirham

Canada: C$ 9.18

Thailand: 212.97 Baht

The prices below are not meant to demonstrate purchasing power parity and do not serve as an equal-weighted price comparison – it is simply a guide on how South African travellers should budget, should they want to engage in ‘leisure’ activities while touring.

Country Big Mac meal (or equivalent) Cappuccino Beer in pub (500 ml) 1 Movie Ticket Petrol (1 litre) London/UK £5.93

R110.19 £3.10

R57.61 £5.41

R100.53 £12.50

R232.28 £1.29

R23.97 New York/US $10.00

R141.57 $5.05

R71.49 $8.00

R113.26 $16.00

R226.52 $0.82

R11.61 Sydney/Australia AU$11.00

R108.41 AU$4.48

R44.15 AU$8.00

R78.84 AU$20.50

R202.04 AU$1.48

R14.59 Berlin/Germany €7.00

R110.69 €2.99

R47.28 €3.31

R52.34 €9.50

R150.23 €1.42

R22.46 Shanghai/China 36元

R73.12 34元

R69.06 42元

R85.30 53元

R107.65 7元

R14.22 Dubai/UAE d 28

R107.94 d 24

R92.52 d 42

R161.92 d 42

R161.92 d 2.15

R8.29 Montreal/Canada C$11.00

R120.04 C$3.90

R42.56 C$7.00

R76.39 C$12.50

R136.41 C$1.33

R14.51 Bangkok/Thailand 183 ฿

R86.06 119 ฿

R 55.96 140 ฿

R65.83 247 ฿

R116.15 26 ฿

R12.23 Rio de Janeiro/Brazil R$25

R88.07 R$9

R31.71 R$11

R38.75 R$27

R95.12 R$5

R17.61 Johannesburg/South Africa R58 R30 R32 R97 R16

Read: What South African investors are worried about right now