Hotel prices drop worldwide

The average price of a hotel room around the world fell by 12% last year, according to the latest Hotels.com Hotel Price Index.

The fall was driven by price drops across every continent.

In North America rates were down 12% in the fourth quarter of 2008 compared to the year before.

In Europe prices dropped 10% during the same period.

In the Caribbean and Latin America they fell by 7%, while in Asia, hotel prices held up slightly better falling just 2%.

The Hotels.com HPI tracks the real prices paid per hotel room rather than advertised rates.

It is based on prices actually paid by customers for 68,000 hotels across 12,500 locations around the world.

Hotels.com Worldwide president David Roche said: “Room rates dropped significantly in the final three months of last year as hoteliers around the world cut prices to try to fill their rooms.
“While last autumn, North America was the only continent to see the average room price fall, the latest Hotel Price Index shows the economic downturn is now affecting hotel prices on all continents.

“Price falls were most dramatic in North America (12%), but Europe, the Caribbean and Latin America were not far behind.

”The good news is that there are many bargains to be had for travellers. This year really will be the year of the deal.”

But he said for UK travellers, the weak pound meant price falls were not felt quite so keenly as elsewhere in the world.

In fact, in many destinations, prices paid by UK travellers were actually up, compared to the year before.

Prices for UK travellers rose to the greatest extent in Switzerland, where the Swiss Franc has also remained strong against the British Pound.

However, prices in the UK fell dramatically during the same period – down by 12% in 2008, the steepest fall across the major European nations.

Average prices paid by UK travellers for US hotel rooms were also down – by 4% year-on-year – despite the strength of the US Dollar against the Pound, demonstrating the depth of the cuts that hoteliers in the US had to make to rates.

Across the major Eurozone destinations, prices for UK travellers were up in Paris by 13% and in Milan by 9%. In Frankfurt prices were up by 6%, while prices in Madrid rose 3% and those in Barcelona were up by 2%.

Roche added: “Due to weak Sterling, UK travellers will have to work a bit harder to find the bargains but there are still plenty to be had.”