Lower hotel room rates make S’pore better deal for visitors

Source : Business Times – 16 Sep 2009

Globally, the average price of a hotel room dropped 17 per cent in H1. Moscow saw the biggest fall in the rate, down 52 per cent to US$218, while Mumbai followed with a 42 per cent drop to US$163.

‘The significant fall in hotel prices in Singapore and the Asia-Pacific makes this region attractive for Singaporean and regional travellers,’ said Johan Svanstrom, managing director of online travel firm Hotels.com Asia Pacific.

For instance, the average room rate in Beijing in H1 2009 was US$111 versus US$162 in H1 2008. Similarly, the average rate in New York was US$196 – almost a third less than the US$281 travellers had to fork out a year earlier.

‘This is by far the most significant movement in prices we’ve seen in five years of publishing the Hotel Price Index (HPI),’ said David Roche, president of Hotels.com Worldwide.

The HPI tracks real prices paid per room by Hotels.com customers, as opposed to advertised rates, to ensure an accurate reflection of hotel prices.

Commenting on the outlook for the hotel industry in the current H2, Mr Svanstrom said: ‘There is still pressure from a demand perspective, though leisure demand seems to be picking up this quarter – helped by the many deals on offer – as the economy stabilises.’

In contrast, corporate travel may take longer to recover, he reckons.

According to Hotels. com, rates for local hotels in July were stable, and August and September showed signs of improvement in average rates and volume.

Hotels.com, part of the Expedia group, operates 52 sites worldwide, including 13 sites in eight languages across the Asia-Pacific.

SINGAPORE may be a more attractive travel destination now, after the average hotel rate plummeted as much as 35 per cent year-on-year to US$141 in the first half of this year – the fifth-biggest decline worldwide.