Strength in the pound leads to decreased hotel room rates for UK travellers in first half 2015 September 2, 2015 Global hotel prices paid by travellers worldwide rose by just 1% during first half 2015, according to latest Hotel Price Index from Hotels.com Prices paid overall not back to pre-economic crisis levels, representing great value for travellers, but three regions set new records for spending British travellers paid less on average for hotel room rates in over 75 global destinations included in the report. LONDON 2nd September 2015: For the first time, hotel prices paid in three world regions have overtaken their pre-financial crisis levels of 2008/2009, with North America, the Caribbean and Latin America setting new records. However, the overall global rise is up just 1% in the first half of 2015 compared to the same period in 2014 according to the latest Hotel Price Index (HPI ) from Hotels.com. More travellers[1], higher consumer spending in key areas and strong currency fluctuations have all contributed to this result. However, there was great news for British travellers as, with the strength of the Pound, they paid less in over half (75) of the 121 destinations in the report. The HPI is a regular report on hotel prices in major destinations across the world, tracking the movement in prices that people actually paid* for their accommodation and providing valuable insight into the reasons behind these changes. The data is drawn from bookings made on the hundreds of thousands of hotels on the Hotels.com websites worldwide. What this meant to British travellers European prices took a tumble as travellers from the UK paid less on average in 80% of the European destinations in the report across the continent. The country with the biggest decrease in average price was in the Ukraine, with Kiev dropping 48% to 65 per night. This was followed by Moscow in Russia dropping 36% to 92 per night. Even after a decrease of 2% to 218 per night, Monte Carlo still registered the highest paid for room rates for travellers in the first six months of the year.
It was a different story across the pond in the USA, as the US Dollar was one of the few currencies which was stronger against the Pound over the first six months of 2015 compared to 2014. Fifteen of the 16 destinations in the HPI saw growth in average, with Key West the top location for highest average price paid with a 2% increase to 196 per night. Fort Lauderdale saw the highest percentage increase with a 31% surge to 132 per night. Once again, Asia was the best value for money for British travellers with eight of the 10 cities included in the HPI featured at the bottom of the table. The largest decrease was seen in Phuket, down 29% to 58 per night. The falling value of the Yen contributed to attracting an increase in travellers globally[2], with prices paid from UK visitors ranging from 106 per night in Tokyo and 89 per night in Kyoto. In terms of weaker currencies, the Australian Dollar allowed for prices to decrease in some of the key cities, including Perth (down 19% to 98 per night) and Sydney (down 5% to 116 per night). The falling Real following the 2014 World Cup saw the average prices paid in Latin America to also drop. Brazil in particular saw hotel average prices paid drop 27% to 122 per night in Rio de Janeiro during the first six months of the year. Average hotel prices per room per night paid by UK travellers in the first six months of 2015 compared with the same period in 2014 (sorted by H1 2015 price) Destination H1 2015 H1 2014 % change Monte Carlo 218 223-2% Key West 196 192 2% Boston 182 153 19% New York 171 171 0% Muscat 170 197-14% San Francisco 165 153 8% Riviera Maya 165 169-2% Seattle 161 133 21% Miami 160 146 10% Cancun 160 170-6% Los Angeles 150 132 13% Doha 149 111 34% Dubai 146 149-2% Geneva 145 153-5% Cannes 144 168-14%
Washington DC 139 125 11% Zurich 138 139 0% Venice 138 140-2% Dubrovnik 137 149-8% Chicago 136 119 14% Fort Lauderdale 132 101 31% New Orleans 128 111 15% LONDON 127 127 0% Singapore 125 132-5% Rio de Janeiro 122 166-27% San Diego 119 110 8% Vancouver 118 107 10% Langkawi 116 126-8% Sydney 116 122-5% Nice 115 128-10% Marbella 115 127-10% Hong Kong 114 117-3% Paris 114 127-10% Milan 114 111 3% Ibiza 113 121-6% Abu Dhabi 113 96 17% Frankfurt 109 109 0% Copenhagen 108 111-3% Florence 107 115-7% Disneyland Paris 107 100 7% Amsterdam 106 111-5% Tokyo 106 109-3% Cape Town 105 100 6%
Cape Town 105 100 6% Stockholm 104 118-12% Mexico City 103 103-1% Las Vegas 102 90 13% Reykjavik 102 110-7% Toronto 101 98 3% EDINBURGH 100 102-1% Munich 100 107-7% Oslo 100 110-9% Johannesburg 100 101-1% Barcelona 99 105-5% Sao Paulo 99 114-13% Mallorca 99 114-13% Rome 99 105-6% Perth 98 120-19% Mumbai 98 85 15% Grand Canyon 97 78 25% Jerusalem 97 117-17% Shanghai 97 86 12% Bruges 94 98-4% Orlando 94 75 25% Tenerife 94 95-2% Taipei 93 92 1% Moscow 92 143-36% Osaka 91 81 13% Dublin 91 87 5% Antalya 91 92-1% Helsinki 90 107-16%
Cairo 90 91-1% Kyoto 89 102-12% Beijing 89 81 10% Bali 89 90-2% Brisbane 88 95-7% Seoul 87 95-8% Melbourne 86 88-2% St. Petersburg 85 120-29% Brussels 85 91-7% Vienna 85 89-5% Delhi 84 79 7% Wellington 84 90-6% Lisbon 84 79 6% Istanbul 83 98-15% Marrakech 83 100-17% Auckland 81 78 4% Madrid 80 81-1% Buenos Aires 79 75 6% Gran Canaria 79 82-4% Lanzarote 78 76 3% Sharm El Sheikh 78 83-6% Koh Samui 77 74 5% Berlin 75 81-8% Athens 73 76-3% Albufeira 73 72 1% Bogota 71 85-17% Benidorm 70 66 6% Tallinn 70 80-13%
Goa 69 67 3% Kuala Lumpur 68 74-8% Prague 67 73-7% Alicante 66 64 3% Kiev 65 124-48% Warsaw 64 67-6% Budapest 63 67-6% Hua Hin 62 65-5% Bucharest 61 77-20% Bratislava 60 63-4% Krabi 60 63-4% Krakow 60 62-3% Torremolinos 59 66-10% Phuket 58 82-29% Riga 56 63-12% Bangkok 55 51 9% Vilnius 55 61-10% Ho Chi Minh City 50 48 3% Siem Reap 43 41 6% Hanoi 39 36 7% Phnom Penh 36 34 5% Chiang Mai 34 41-16% Pattaya 34 39-14% Please visit www.hotel-price-index.com for more information and to view reports in additional currencies. *Average prices paid per night inclusive of taxes and fees. About Hotels.com
Hotels.com L.P. operates Hotels.com, a leading online accommodation booking website with hundreds of thousands of properties ranging from international chains and all-inclusive resorts to local favorites and bed & breakfasts, together with all the information needed to book the perfect stay. 2015 Hotels.com, LP. Hotels.com, The Obvious Choice, Hotel Price Index, HPI, Hotels.com Rewards and the Hotels.com logo are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Hotels.com, LP in the U.S. and/or other countries. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners. You can also follow us on: Media contacts: Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/hotels.comeurope Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/hotelseu Twitter: https://twitter.com/hotelsdotcomeu Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/hotelsdotcom/ Instagram: https://instagram.com/hotelsdotcom/ Google+: https://plus.google.com/+hotelscom/ Doug McPherson, Megan Hogg, Jonatha Tel: 0207 693 6999 E-mail: hotels.com@frankpr.it Emily Zazado Tel: 469.335.1131 E-mail: v-emzazado@hotels.com LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/2757 Please note that the content of this news release is accurate at the time of publication but may be subject to change without notice. [1]http://media.unwto.org/press-release/2015-07-08/international-tourist-arrivals-4-first-fourmonths-2015 [2] http://uk.reuters.com/article/2015/06/10/us-markets-asia-currenciesidukkbn0oq0ir20150610