Hotels Taking A Worldwide Beating On Room Rates

Corporate travel buyers saw a decrease in average local-currency-based hotel rates for nearly every major global city during the first nine weeks of this year, according to data Hogg Robinson Group released last month as an update to its 2008 Hotel Survey.

All major cities in January saw year-over-year decreases in average rate—based on actual room nights booked and the rates paid by HRG's clients in the United Kingdom as well as industry figures—and Moscow was the only city surveyed to see a modest rate increase of 3 percent in February. Most cities were down for the two months together, and rates fell faster in February than in January in the cities surveyed, according to HRG.

"We are in a year of change," HRG director of global hotel relations Margaret Bowler said in a statement. "This year is not about having a rate for 12 months, as this data set clearly demonstrates. Corporate clients need to continually review and consolidate the number of suppliers they work with."

The largest decreases for January and February were in Mumbai, where rates decreased by 26 percent, Dubai, where rates decreased by 24 percent, and in Zurich and Dublin, where rates decreased by 21 percent. Johannesburg's decrease of 3 percent was the smallest for the cities surveyed.

Abu Dhabi, meanwhile, saw rates jump by 19 percent, making it the most expensive city globally for U.K. corporate travelers, followed by Moscow and Doha, according to the HRG report.

Exchange rate fluctuations compounded the increase in hotel costs in January and February for U.K. travelers in Abu Dhabi, with rates in U.K. sterling up 61 percent compared with the same period of 2008, HRG said. Other cities with high increases in terms of U.K. sterling rates included Kuwait City, which was up 53 percent; Riyadh, up 47 percent; and Tokyo, Beijing and Kuala Lumpur, all up 38 percent.