hotels.com Hotel Price Index™ (HPI™) Reveals Up-and-Coming Travel Destinations Around the Globe
Asian cities gaining in popularity, while European destinations begin to fall off the radar.
DALLAS, June 23, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- According to the latest Hotel Price Index™ (HPI™) released by hotels.com®, destinations in Asia are gaining popularity with U.S. travelers, with cities like Shanghai, Beijing, Seoul, and Manila all seeing significant increases in American visitors. This rise in U.S. tourism to Asia contributed to a 4% increase in prices paid per room, per night across the continent in 2010. While many Asian cities ranked much stronger in 2010 than 2009, several European cities began to slip, signaling a potential new trend for American tourists.
"We were pleasantly surprised by the findings of the recent Hotel Price Index, which indicated several up-and-coming international destinations, including those in Asia," said Victor Owens, vice president of marketing, North America for Hotels.com. "Cities in China and South Korea were particularly popular with business travelers this year and are beginning to surpass more traditionally favored European destinations."
The Newest Generation of Hot Destinations.
The latest Hotel Price Index showed several cities in Asia are becoming hot travel destinations, with a significant boost in U.S. travelers in 2010. Shanghai exhibited the most significant rise in American tourists between 2009 and 2010, jumping 17 spots to be the 20th most visited destination by Americans. Travelers paid an average of $142 per room per night on hotels in Shanghai, up from $115 the year before. Other cities in Asia also saw considerable rises in U.S. visitors, with Beijing jumping 15 spots on the HPI to be the 28th most visited destination by Americans, and Seoul and Manila taking the 41st and 49th spots, respectively. The only non-Asian city to post a significant increase in U.S. visitors was Riviera Maya, jumping nine spots and showing that Americans are still interested in traveling to Mexico.
European Destinations Losing Visitors
Although the Hotel Price Index illustrated a 2% global increase in average hotel room rates paid in 2010 when compared to the year before, not all destinations have been feeling the positive effects of the U.S. economy rebounding. In Europe, three popular cities, Edinburgh, Copenhagen, and Berlin, all saw a decrease in U.S. visitors between 2009 and 2010. Edinburgh fell five spots to rank 50th in the overall list of most visited destinations by Americans, while Copenhagen fell six spots and Berlin fell four, coming in at 32nd and 24th most popular destinations, respectively. While the average price paid per room, per night increased 12% in Edinburgh to $179, prices dropped in Copenhagen and Berlin, which may invite more tourists. Victoria, British Columbia also fell 11 spots, likely due to the post-Olympics decline in visitors.
Click http://www.hotel-price-index.com for a look at the entire report, featuring infographics and a detailed state-by-state and city-by-city breakdown.
About the HPI™
The hotels.com Hotel Price Index (HPI™), which began in 2004, is a regular survey of hotel prices in major city destinations (over 18,300 locations) across the globe. The HPI is based on bookings made on hotels.com and prices shown are those actually paid by customers (rather than advertised rates) in 2010 versus 2009.
The HPI is respected as the definitive report on hotel prices around the world and is increasingly used as a reference tool by media, analysts, tourism bodies and academics.
About hotels.com
Hotels.com® is a leading provider of lodging worldwide, offering more than 135,000 properties in over 60 countries from national chain hotels and all-inclusive resorts to local favorites and bed & breakfasts. Hotels.com is the smarter way to book travel by offering welcomerewards®, an industry leading loyalty rewards program; the real opinions of other travelers captured in over 1.5 million Guest Reviews and; a Price Match Guarantee, so that those booking with hotels.com can be assured they are getting the best deal, either online or by speaking directly to a travel expert at 1-800-2-HOTELS 24 hours a day. For more information, please visit hotels.com. Hotels.com is an operating company of Expedia, Inc. (NASDAQ: EXPE). Follow us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/hotelsdotcom and Twitter via www.twitter.com/hotelsdotcom or visit the hotels.com Travel Smart Blog for consumer and business travel information. Get clayed at http://www.clayyourself.com. Detailed Hotel Price Index data is available at: http://www.hotel-price-index.com, hotels.com, A Smarter Way to Book™.
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SOURCE hotels.com
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