Hotel Prices April 2010 In comparison to March 2010 — Photo by trivago
trivago Hotel Price Index 2010 — Photo by trivago
The average price of hotels in Europe has increased twelve percent from March to April 2010 – a sharp increase over the previous month, and the highest point since October 2009. Most European cities have experienced price growths of ten to twenty percent, and in popular tourist destination cities such as Rome, Barcelona and Istanbul, prices rose by as much as 42 percent. These are the findings of the trivago Hotel Price Index (tHPI) which is published monthly by the hotel price comparison site .
The average price for a standard double room in Europe has risen by twelve percent this month, from March’s average of 93 pounds per night to a new high of 101 pounds. This is the highest the European price average has been since October 2009. Increasing prices are affecting both individual cities and country-wide averages: price have risen in 31 of the 50 cities in this month’s tHPI, as well as 19 European countries.
Most European cities affected
Travelers are heading south to enjoy the warmer weather, and this has resulted in price hikes in 31 cities of the tHPI’s 50 listed cities. The most significant increase was in Rome, where prices rose 42 percent in the past month, but this trend was also present in most European cities. Overnight accommodation costs rose 33 percent in Prague and Venice, 32 percent in Florence, 31 percent in Istanbul and 24 percent in Seville, Nice and Bruges. The remaining cities all recorded price climbs of ten to twenty percent. In terms of actual costs, the greatest impact can be found in Venice, where its average overnight cost of 184 pounds effectively displaces Geneva and places Venice as the most expensive city in Europe. Geneva comes in second at 154 pounds, followed closely by Rome (146 pounds), London (138 pounds) and Paris (138 pounds).
Country-wide price hikes
The rising hotel rates are not limited to big tourist cities – they affect countries as a whole, and this is resulting in significantly higher price averages in 19 European countries. The Czech Republic is seeing the greatest inflation in hotel prices, increasing thirty-eight percent from an average of 62 pounds a night last month to 88 pounds a night in April. In Turkey, prices have risen twenty-four percent (76 pounds to 97 pounds), while Russia is experiencing price climbs of nineteen percent (112 pounds to 137 pounds). Similar increases are also to be found in Portugal (17 percent), Italy (17 percent) and Hungary (16 percent). In the rest of Europe, price increases vary between six and eleven percent. Only five European countries are seeing a drop in average overnight costs from March to April. In Ireland, prices have dropped by six percent; in Finland by four percent; Norway and Bulgaria have both dropped by two percent and Sweden’s hotel prices have decreased by only one percent.
United Kingdom
In the United Kingdom, the country-wide average for overnight accommodation has risen by four percent from March to April 2010. This represents a much smaller increase when Press Contact: Romain Hefti Tel.: +44 (0)2030 025 995 E-Mail: [email protected] compared to most countries in continental Europe, and is the result of wider price fluctuations in the UK’s largest cities. The popular seaside city of Blackpool has seen the most dramatic price inflation, reaching an average of 88 pounds – a 44 percent increase from last month’s average of 70 pounds. Average hotel prices also rose nine percent in London (138 pounds) and ten percent in both Edinburgh (119 pounds) and Liverpool (95 pounds). In contrast, prices dropped eleven percent in Birmingham (78 pounds), fifteen percent in Newcastle (80 pounds) and sixteen percent in Bristol (79 pounds). When compared to April 2009, however, prices were more uniformly higher: Edinburgh (up 19 percent), London (up 14 percent), Liverpool (up 12 percent), Manchester (up 8 percent) and Glasgow (up 6 percent).
The hotel price index shows the average overnight accommodation prices for the most popular European cities on trivago. Prices for a standard double room are calculated on the basis of 160,000 daily price inquiries for overnight hotel stays generated through the trivago hotel price comparison service. trivago stores all hotel enquiries for each month and therefore gives an overview of hotel accommodation prices for the upcoming month. The tHPI reflects the hotel prices within the European online hotel market: The overnight accommodation prices of 53 online travel agents and hotel chains create the average hotel prices for cities, regions and countries within Europe.
