Cost of Hotel Rooms in the Americas, the Caribbean Rise by 4 Percent

The average price paid for a night's stay in a hotel increased by 4 per cent worldwide over the first half of the year, compared with the same period in 2013.

It is the fifth consecutive year the Hotels.com Hotel Price Index (HPI) has recorded a rise. The global HPI stood at 115 at the end of the first six months of 2014, 15 points higher than at the index's launch in 2004 and four points off its all-time high of 119 set in the first half of 2007.

Latin America and the Caribbean achieved record highs in the first six months of the year. The Caribbean had the sharpest rise in the current HPI of 6 per cent, taking it to the highest individual region Index figure ever documented. Latin America continued the growth seen in 2013 and also reached its all-time half–year high of 130.

Europe and the Middle East saw a five per cent rise in the index. But there was no movement for Asia and the Pacific. “Standing at 105, the index is only five points higher than where it stood in 2004, so Asia continued to represent the best value region for hotel prices,” the report said.

“There was a promising start to the year for the travel industry in general as demand for both international tourism and business travel remained strong,” said Johan Svanstrom, president of the Hotels.com brand.

“Consequently, we saw the highest rate of increase in the HPI since early 2012 and, for the first time, we have two regions whose regional indexes have overtaken their pre-economic crisis levels. Currency fluctuations played a major role in determining whether prices paid when travelling abroad either rose or fell for many travellers.”

Source: Supply Management