Room rates lowest for five years
LONDON – The average price of a hotel room around the world fell by 17 percent in the first six months of 2009, according to the latest Hotels.com Hotel Price Index.
Hotel prices in June 2009 were more than one sixth lower than they were the year before and room rates were just one percent above their level in January 2004, when the Hotel Price Index was started.
The 17 percent fall in room rates was driven by price drops across every continent.
Asian hotel rates, which had been holding up better than those in the U.S. or Europe, tumbled in the first half of 2009 dropping an average of 17 percent compared to the same period one year earlier.
The Hotel Price Index shows that Sydney saw the average price for a hotel room fall from US$175 to US$122, a 30 per cent decline, in the first six months of 2009.
In New Zealand, Auckland saw the biggest drop with a 40 per cent dip in rates from US$139 to US$84.
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 at 78,000 hotels across 13,000 locations around the world.
David Roche, president, Hotels.com Worldwide, said, “The dampening effect of falling consumer demand has been compounded by sharply increased hotel capacity.
“In the first half of 2009 an ever larger number of hotel rooms chased a dwindling stream of customers, and this’ double whammy’ lowered prices by 17 percent globally.
“As demand fell, hoteliers closed floors and cut back both services and prices, creating a market with a distinctly promotional character that is likely to endure for some time.”
Ian Jarrett
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