Global Hotel Prices Drop 12 Percent

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The average price of a hotel room around the world fell by 12 percent last year, according to the latest Hotels.com Hotel Price Index.

Hotel prices in December 2008 were more than one-tenth lower than they were the year before and room rates were just one percent above their level in January 2004, when the Hotel Price Index was started.

The fall in room rates was driven by price drops across every continent.

The Hotels.com HPI tracks the real prices paid per hotel room rather than advertised rates. It is based on prices actually paid by customers for 68,000 hotels across 12,500 locations around the world.

The latest HPI looks at hotel prices for the period October to December 2008, compared to the same period the year before.

"Room rates dropped significantly in the final three months of last year as hoteliers around the world cut prices to try to fill their rooms," says David Roche, president of Hotels.com Worldwide says.

"While last autumn, North America was the only continent to see the average room price fall, the latest Hotel Price Index shows the economic downturn is now affecting hotel prices on all continents," he adds.

Visit http://www.hotels.co.uk/press/hotel-price-index.html