Hotels.com has launched its biannual Hotel Price Index (HPI), which compares hotel room prices paid in 2012 with those paid in 2011.
The latest report shows that prices went up in the period for UK travellers overall, despite 47 of the 115 countries covered by the report showing a price decrease, and prices remaining unchanged in six others. So, 63 countries registered price increases, and prices are likely to rise still further in 2013 as a range of negative economic conditions, recently compounded by the UK’s credit rating being downgraded, impact to weaken the pound.
A number of European cities saw the biggest price reductions in 2012, especially in those countries most affected by the poor economic situation. Prices in Athens fell by 10 percent to an average of £72 per night. For similar reasons, the prices in Rome fell by 9 percent to £106 per night, and those in Madrid fell by 8 percent to an average room per night price of £82. Less obviously affected by a weak economy, but still showing a price reduction of 8 percent, the average room price in Amsterdam fell to £106.
London’s expected bumper year never quite materialised, with the average room price in the UK’s capital hovering around the £110 mark, a reduction of 7 percent on the previous year.
While the biggest price increase for a single destination went to Egypt’s Sharm el-Sheikh, which registered a 34 percent hike to £92, it was the USA that registered healthy price increases across all of its 15 destinations considered for the report. San Francisco grew by 20 percent to register an average of £136, while Orlando saw an increase of 18 percent to £73.
Other big winners included Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, with an average price increase of 13 percent to £177 per night, and Japan, where Kyoto saw a 16 percent rise to £105 per night.
