Rio de Janeiro has overtaken Sydney as the world’s most expensive major city for a hotel stay, according to a new study.
The average cost of a night in the Brazilian city during the first three months of 2012 was £192.88, nearly 50 per cent more expensive than during the same period last year.
HRS, a hotel booking website which carried out the research, attributed the sharp rise to Brazil’s strong economy and improved infrastructure ahead of the 2014 FIFA World Cup and the 2016 Olympic Games. It added that this year’s Rio Carnival also attracted a record number of visitors.
Room rates rose in the majority of destinations analysed by HRS, including Britain. London witnessed a 4.33 per cent increase, pushing average nightly rates above £100, and prices rose by 12.55 per cent in Liverpool – from £63.37 to £71.57.
Prices rose by more than a quarter in Miami, to £98, and by around a fifth in Mexico City, to £85.
Moscow’s hotels remained Europe’s most expensive, with a hotel room costing around £122 on average, followed by Zurich, where they cost just over £116.
The cheapest destinations to feature in the study were Bangkok, Prague and Beijing, where a hotel typically cost just under £50 a night. Budapest, at £52, provided similarly good value, while rooms in Vienna were £74 on average.
Rates fell in several European cities, including Athens, which is continuing to suffer from civil unrest and a decline in tourists, Oslo and Lisbon.
Hotel rooms were also cheaper in Buenos Aires and Mumbai, compared with last year.
