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Ranking of cities with most expensive hotels made public

02 September 2011 10:04 (UTC +04:00)

Baku. Nijat Mustafayev â€“ APA-Economics. Hotel rates grew by 4% around the world in the first six months of 2011, according to a new survey from Hogg Robinson Group (HRG).
The TMC said the survey both confirmed signs of a global recovery and showed a shift in business priorities from Europe to Asia.
The study, based on industry intelligence, actual room nights booked and rates paid by its UK clients in the first six months of 2011, found that growth in Asia was strong. But it also noted that of the 50 cities surveyed, 33 showed an increase in rates. This compares with just a quarter in 2010.
Rate rises would have been higher but for decreases in cities in Africa and East Europe.
Margaret Bowler, HRGâ€™s director global hotel relations, said: â€œThe shift from Europe to Asia in hotel rate growth is significant in that it demonstrates changing business priorities.
â€œThe rates demonstrate that demand has increased for travel to emerging regions as a result of the need to do business and that travellers are willing to pay higher hotel costs during their stay.â€
Besides the shift in business from Europe to Asia, HRG noted four other trends:
â€¢ Moscow remained the worldâ€™s most expensive city for hotels with average room rates at Â£260.88 â€“ although this is only a 15 rise on last year.
â€¢ Rates in Istanbul rose by 37%, the highest in the survey. HRG said this reflected a rise in business interest in the Turkish city.
â€¢ The strongest performing region was Asia Pacific where average rates rose by 7%.
â€¢ Hoteliers in East Europe suffered a 6.6% drop in rates, the largest in the survey.
â€¢ Rates in UK hotels were â€œweakâ€ compared to last year although rates at properties around Heathrow rose.
Hotels in 15 European cities featured in HRGâ€™s Global Top 50 for average rates. Of these Zurich, Basel and Geneva showed the biggest rises of 17%, 15% and 13% respectively.
London (2%), Amsterdam (2%), Paris (5%) and Frankfurt (5%) were relatively stable.
In North America, the picture varied with San Francisco showing a significant 13% rise but rates in New York flat.
Stewart Harvey, HRGâ€™s group commercial director, warned that rates were likely to continue to rise as the economies grew and demand picked up.
He added: â€œYet again our survey indicates how important it is for clients to keep control of their hotel programmes and drive volumes to maximise returns.
â€œDespite the fact that many large companies have put in place travel restrictions and cost reductions, hotel rates in the majority of cities surveyed increased. Demand is driving the rate.â€