Hotel Prices Worldwide Rose 15 Percent in 2006

Hotel prices rose by 15 percent across the world between the fourth quarter of 2005 and the fourth quarter of 2006, according to the Hotels.com Hotel Price Index.

The overall rise was driven to a large extent by European destinations, where prices rose by 17 percent in the same period, as travelers made more trips during the off-peak October, November and December months.

This drove prices up across the continent’s major city destinations including London, where prices rose 22 percent in 2006. Prices in the U.S. (up 11 percent) and Asia (up 12 percent) also ramped up.

The Hotels.com HPI is based on prices for 20,000 hotels across 1,000 locations around the world and on the actual prices paid by customers, rather than simply advertised rates.

Moscow retained its position as the city in which tourists paid the most for a room at an average of £172 per night in the fourth quarter of 2006. At the other end of the scale, travelers would get four nights in Bangkok for virtually the same price –the average room set tourists back just £44, making it the cheapest major destination.

New York (£155) and Dubai (£124) –destinations where travelers often spend more for a higher-end hotel- trailed Moscow in second and third place in the table. A resurgent Cancun –which continues to grow in popularity as a winter-sun destination for US and European travelers alike- was the fourth most expensive global destination.

Tallinn and Warsaw were the cheapest European cities amongst those reported, although this reflects the seasonality of these destinations, where demand falls over the winter months.

Bucking the overall trend, a few cities did post year-on-year price falls in Q4 2006. Compared to the same period in 2005, Guangzhou in China showed the greatest fall, with prices down 16 percent overall. This may reflect the continued growth of Beijing and Shanghai as China’s hub cities and suggests that travelers are not leaving the major cities to visit the provinces.