FOR the first time in half a decade, hotel prices have risen across all regions – four per cent – during the first six months of 2012, indicating a recovery in the hospitality sector, according to the latest Hotel Price Index (HPI) by Hotels.com.
David Roche, president, Hotels.com, said: “The hotel industry bounced back in the first half of this year from a number of natural and political crises in 2011 and it is encouraging to see growth in the sector. While initially it may not seem (like) good news for consumers, hotel prices are still only around their 2005 level, representing great value for travellers when both wages and other prices have risen considerably.”
Rates in Asia climbed four per cent, fuelled by the Japanese who are beginning to travel again after the 2011 Tohuku earthquake, a growing number of Chinese travelling overseas as well as an expansion in the region’s budget aviation sector with new entrants such as Peach Aviation and Scoot.
In the Pacific, which recorded a six per cent hike in rates, a resource boom – particularly in Western Australia – resulted in a room squeeze.
Increasing business travel combined with higher consumer spending in the US drove North American rates up by five per cent.
Meanwhile, the rest of the world is seeing a slower trajectory of growth in hotel rates.
Following the turmoil of the Arab Spring, confidence returned to much of the Middle East and North Africa, resulting in a rise of one per cent in hotel prices.
Although Europe’s overall rates grew one per cent, prices dropped in parts of the eurozone where falling consumer confidence and spending power led to lower occupancy in the major cities and holiday hotspots.
