Dublin hotel room prices drop by 11%
Worldwide, the most expensive city to stay in last year was Moscow, with an average room rate of £258.67 (€307.19). Despite a 3% fall on the 2009 figure this is the sixth year in a row the Russian city has taken the top spot.
A survey by travel firm Hogg Robinson Group found European hotel prices fell for the second year as many countries experienced “sluggish economic growth”. Athens saw room rates fall by 9%.
The survey said that the performance of Dublin hotels was “significantly improved” from its 2009 rate of a 21% decline.
Of the 75 towns and cities listed in order of room rate expense, Dublin was the 58th most expensive location while London was in 29th.
London hotel rooms cost an average of £156.91 (€186.27) in 2010 — a 3% rise on the 2009 figure.
Chief executive of the Centre for Economics and Business research, Douglas McWilliams said: “Resource rich economies, such as Australia and Canada, saw large gains in hotel prices reflecting healthy recoveries in their economies and accompanying currency appreciation, but generally the recovery in advanced economies has been more muted.
“Many of the crisis-hit cities in Europe saw hotel prices decline in 2010 with falls in Athens, Dublin, Lisbon and Madrid as the sovereign debt crisis and fiscal austerity programmes hammered the economies of Greece, Ireland, Portugal and Spain respectively.
“The UK economy recorded stronger-than-expected growth in 2010 and hotel prices returned to growth. In general, business surveys have shown London and south-east England, with its large private sector and lesser reliance on the public sector, to be recovering reasonably well,” said Mr McWilliams.
In Africa and Asia Pacific average hotel prices rose to above pre-recession levels.
US and Canadian hotel rates, particularly in Washington DC and Montreal, increased as currency rates appreciated. New York saw a dramatic increase in average room rate, rising from a decrease of 9% in 2009 to a 4% increase in 2010.
“In Portugal and Spain, where market concerns continue to simmer over the extent of public sector debt, high unemployment and limited growth prospects in the face of fiscal austerity, hotel prices also noticeably declined: in Lisbon, prices decreased by 8% in 2010 and in Madrid prices were down by 5%,” said Mr McWilliams.
