For only the first time in the last five years, travelers from around the world paid more for their hotel stays during the first six months of 2012. The global increase was 4% compared to the same six months one year ago and demonstrated that the economy globally is recovering in the hospitality industry.
At present, the Hotel Price Index is 108, which means even though the recent increase has taken place over the past six months, prices for hotel rooms overall are still far lower than they were between January and July of 2007, when the index was at its peak of 119.
The HPI, which was launched in 2004, follows the price of hotel rooms that travelers are charged around the world. During the first six months of this year, the average price of hotel rooms was higher in the Pacific region by 6%, by 5% in North America, 4% in Asia and 1% in the Middle East, Latin America and Europe.
Following the 2011 Arab Spring, confidence slowly returned to most of the Middle East and parts of North Africa allowing prices to recover once again in that region. In Japan that also held true, as hotel prices increased once travelers began to return to the country following the devastating earthquake, tsunami and nuclear problem in March of 2011.
A large increase of international travelers from China also has helped to increase the cost of hotels. The addition of new low budget airlines such as Peach Aviation and Scoot has helped to move more passengers and increase hotel occupancy, making it easier to increase room rates.
