Holidays have become costlier for British travellers as hotel prices in the majority of tourist cities increased in the first half of 2013, The Telegraph has reported, citing research by Hotels.com.
Research by the booking website examined the average price paid by British travellers in 111 cities and found that prices in 61 of them had increased, while it remained the same in 11, and in 39 cities prices had declined.
The biggest increases were reportedly registered in Cancun, Sharm El Sheikh and Marrakech. Average room rates in the Mexican resort increased to £147 a night, 32 per cent higher than a year earlier, while in the Red Sea’s biggest resort prices rose by 30 per cent to £104 a night, and in Marrakech hotel prices increased by 24 per cent to £90 a night. Vilnius, Cairo, Reykjavik, Sydney and Benidorm also registered a major rise.
In the US, prices in 12 of the 15 featured destinations increased, with a major rise recorded in Key West and Miami.
According to Hotels.com, average rates in London increased by only four per cent to £116. However, in comparison a survey by TripAdvisor last month said that the the price of city breaks in some of the UK’s biggest cities has increased by nearly 30 per cent in the past year.
David Roche, President Hotels.com, said: ‘There is no doubt that European hotel prices have been some of the most badly affected since the economic fallout in 2008/2009. The fact that the Eurozone recorded growth for the first two quarters of 2013 is evidence that the economic crisis is easing, although not yet completely over. Many of the destinations worst hit by the downturn have seen hotel prices stabilize, with some experiencing healthy rises.’
The Hotels.com survey found that Polish capital of Warsaw recorded the biggest fall in average rates. A typical one-night stay cost £65 between January and June this year, 20 per cent less than the same period in 2012, when the city was one of the hosts for the European Football Championships.
The cheapest destination in the study was Phnom Penh, where a single night’s lodging will cost British travellers around £35 on average. Hanoi was second (£41), followed by Chiang Mai (£44), Siem Reap (£45), Pattaya (£49), Ho Chi Minh City (£60).
The most expensive of the cities as per the Hotels.com study was Monte Carlo, where a typical hotel room costs £189 a night. Muscat in Oman was a close second, at £188, followed by Rio de Janeiro (£180), Key West (£179), New York (£178) and Moscow (£164).
