HRG Hotel Rate Study Shows European Rates Rising

Several key European cities are raising hotel prices, including Barcelona, which recorded an 18 percent increase, and Berlin, which recorded a 17 percent increase, according to HRG UK's hotel survey for the first half of 2007, released today. In fact, average rates were up in every major European market except for Geneva, where rates dropped 3 percent.

Average daily rates in New York were up 4 percent to about $361.29, with only Moscow showing a higher average rate of about $473.05, according to the survey. Only one U.S. city, Houston, was among the top 10 cities for rate increases, with an increase of 8 percent.

Boosted by increased traffic through Mumbai's international airport, the city's average daily rates rose by 30 percent in the first six months of 2007, compared with the same period last year. For the full year of 2006, Mumbai rates increased by 49 percent compared with the previous year. That trend will continue in Asia as well as the Middle East, according to HRG.

"As these two particular markets have yet to reach full maturity, we expect to see the trends continue over the foreseeable future," Margaret Bowler, HRG's director of global hotel relations, said in a prepared statement. "Indeed, as economic investment in each local economy increases, we may even see a significant increase in the pace of growth."
HRG also reported that, because of last-minute bookings, 28 percent of booking attempts were unsuccessful in the first half of 2007. More than one-third of these denied bookings were a result of corporate rates not being loaded onto global distribution systems.

The survey is based on industry figures, actual room nights booked and the rates paid by HRG's clients in the United Kingdom. Hotel rates in the study were provided in pounds sterling, which Business Travel News converted to U.S. dollars based on the exchange rate on June 30, 2007.