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Hotel rates lower than six years ago
Holidaymakers are still paying less for hotel rooms than they did six years ago, according to the latest report from Hotels Price Index.
It said that in the second quarter of this year, prices were 1% lower than when the Index began in 2004.
"This is a mark of just how far prices fell during the downturn," said the report.
Good news for UK hoteliers is that prices in Britain stopped falling during the quarter. In fact, they were up 3% compared with the second quarter of 2009.
Prices were an average of £83 per night compared with £80 a year earlier.
David Roche, president of Hotels.com which prepares the Index said: “Hotel pricing trends, up to the end of the second quarter of 2010, confirm that stabilisation has indeed been under way in the hotel industry, and that there are hints of a recovery.
"Hotel prices appear to have hit the bottom in the first half of 2010, and have lately trended up 2% against the prior year, the first time prices have risen since 2007.
"If indeed we’re seeing the beginning of a true recovery, it is an uneven recovery, and one starting from a low base."
Geneva became the most expensive city in the world for Britons, with the average price of a hotel room rising by 5% to £155. This was partly due to the strength of the Swiss Franc and also a reflection of the high demand for rooms in the city.
Monte Carlo dropped to second spot in the table averaging £152, despite a rise of 2%.
Hotels in the World Cup hosting city of Cape Town experienced the world’s biggest price hikes of 54%; rising from an average price of £82 to £127 for a night’s stay.
Abu Dhabi saw the steepest falls in hotel prices as a result of the economic slowdown continuing to affect the region, with room rates dropping 35% to average £113 per night.
By Linsey McNeill
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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