ROOM rates in Asia registered a year-on-year decrease in Asia although “supercities” such as Singapore and Shanghai exhibited gains in average room rates (ARR) in the face of negative foreign exchange rate growth.
Hong Kong still tops the charts in Asia with the priciest rooms at 193.20 pounds (US$322), a 0.6 per cent year-on-year increase, according to the latest survey from Hogg Robinson Group (HRG).
Likewise, Singapore bucked the overall trend of declining room rates in Asia with a 2.5 per cent increase in ARR to 175.10 pounds.Shanghai and Beijing posted a 0.8 per cent and 8.2 per cent growth to 130.90 pounds and 141.34 pounds respectively, while Seoul saw a 9.0 per cent rise in ARR to 170 pounds.
On the other hand, Tokyo, New Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad were all found to have decreases in ARR in line with regional performance.
Margaret Bowler, director global hotel relations, HRG, commented: “Some of the fastest growing economic regions in the world are in this group and we expect to see some stopping and starting in forthcoming years as they reach maturity – currently, the stop-start nature of supply and demand, with one catching up with the other, means it will take a little time for these destinations to even out.”
The HRG study found that supercities – destinations popular both for leisure and business travel – such as Singapore, Barcelona or Beijing are now leading the rise and fall in room rates rather than external trends as was previously the case.
Said Bowler: “Despite the declines across given regions, we see clear evidence of the ‘supercities’ forging their own path, contradicting their national trend. Nairobi, Beijing and others each have their own story to tell which differs from other destinations in those regions.”
