Average hotel prices fall 14% globally in 2009

Average hotel prices fall 14% globally in 2009
• Hotel prices at level last seen in 2003
• Auckland hotel prices down 24%

Auckland has emerged as the third least expensive city for hotel accommodation[1] among 77 major cities worldwide, according to the latest global Hotel Price Index from Hotels.com® (http://www.hotels.com), the global hotel specialist and subsidiary of Expedia, Inc. Prices for hotel rooms in Auckland dropped 24 per cent, from US$120 in 2008 to US$91 in 2009.

Across the Tasman, business and tourist hubs Sydney and Melbourne also saw the average price of a hotel room fall – Sydney by 18 per cent over the year, recording an average rate of US$131, and Melbourne by three per cent, down to an average rate of US$107.

The study, now in its seventh year, found that hotel prices globally fell 14 per cent, due to the effect of the global financial crisis. In fact, the average price of a hotel room across the world was cheaper in 2009 than it was in 2004, when the Hotel Price Index began.

However, hoteliers will be heartened by news that the market was showing signs of stabilising towards the end of 2009. The average price of a hotel room fell by just 7 per cent year-on-year in Q4 2009, compared to 16 per cent in Q1, 17 per cent in Q2 and 14 per cent in Q3.

Hotel prices globally
While hotel prices appear to be stabilising, particularly in Europe and the US, prices continued to fall in the last quarter of 2009 in both Asia and Latin America, which are still experiencing the effects of the downturn. Travellers spent 16 per cent less for hotel accommodation in Asia Pacific in 2009 compared to 2008, second only to Latin America, where prices fell 21 per cent. Unlike other regions, the price falls experienced by hotels in Asia Pacific actually accelerated in Q4 2009 compared to the previous quarters. Hotel rates dropped 19 percent in Q4 in Asia, compared to 17 per cent in quarters two and three, and 15 per cent in Q1.

Travellers spent 14 per cent less on hotel rooms in the US during 2009 than in 2008 and 13 per cent less in Europe.

Hotel prices in the Italian island hideaway of Capri were the most expensive for travellers during the year, with the average price per room per night increasing 21 per cent to US$302. Geneva, Abu Dhabi, Cannes and Venice followed as the most expensive cities for hotel accommodation.

Las Vegas, Warsaw and Auckland offered the cheapest hotel rates of the 77 cities worldwide analysed in the report.

David Roche, President of Hotels.com, commented: “The latest Hotels.com Hotel Price Index shows us that 2009 hotel prices have been brought back to levels not seen since 2003. Despite some possible first signs of hotel prices recovering in Europe and the US in the last quarter of 2009, the promotions and great value look set to continue for some time yet. All indications are that 2010 promises to be another great year for the traveller.”

Johan Svanstrom, Managing Director, Asia Pacific, Hotels.com, commented: “For Asia, it’s a case of ‘last into the crisis and last out’, so while hotels rates in Asia were the last to be affected by the crisis, so too they will be last to recover. In the meantime, it’s still a buyer’s market in Asia, with hotels offering excellent value for travellers.”

ENDS

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