Travel management company HRG (Hogg Robinson Group) has released results for its half year hotel survey 2007, which reveal rates are continuing to rise throughout the world.
Moscow remains the most expensive city to stay in, according to the survey, with an average room rate of ”236 ($475) ” some ”80 more than London prices. New York is second from the top, although a long way behind the Russian capital at an average of ”180 a night.
Dubai”s rapid growth rate has certainly been reflected in the hospitality sector, with the city rising from seventh to third place in HRG”s top ten, while London has fallen three places and is now the ninth most costly for hotel rates.
”Europe has seen strong increases, and rates in the Middle East and Asia have also risen,” said HRG director global hotel relations, Margaret Bowler. ”As these two [latter] markets have yet to reach full maturity, we expect to see the trends continue for the foreseeable future.
”Indeed, as economic investment in each local economy increases, we may even see a significant increase in the pace of growth.”
All regions except Africa have seen significant growth during the past six months, led by Eastern Europe with average room rates increasing by 18.7% ” largely due to Moscow. Investments in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Qatar also helped rates in the Middle East and West Africa region rise by 14%.
”We have seen a solid increase in commerce between East and West during the past ten years and can see that demand is outstripping supply, pushing up room rates at a steady level,” said Bowler.
Indeed, availability continues to be an issue ” particularly for corporate travellers who often book at the last minute. Not only do they pay higher rates for not booking in advance, but some 28% of room requests were ”denied” due to lack of availability.
”Another key finding of our latest survey is the ever-growing importance of booking in advance, particularly for travellers looking to secure the best rates,” said Bowler.
”Last minute bookers are increasingly suffering from inflated rates in the most popular locations and clients need to ensure that they have negotiated last room availability in their corporate rates to avoid this.”