* Bargains available despite soaring hotel room rates across the region
* Hotel prices for Singapore travellers drop in more than 60% of destinations
Despite increased hotel room rates across the region,travelling abroad is now more affordable for Singaporeans compared to 2011. According to the latest Hotels.com? Hotels Price Index? (HPI?), travellers from Singapore paid less for hotel rooms in 24 out of 39 countries included in the report.
Hotel room prices in Asia increased by 2 per cent overall in 2012, backed by the return of travel to and from Japan following the disasters of 2011, the strength of the local economies, the continued rise in the number of Chinese travellers, as well as an increase in flights by low cost carriers.
In spite of this, average room rates were still some way off from its peak in 2007, and the strong Singapore dollar meant travellers could still find good value in several destinations.
Phnom Penh offered the best value on hotel rooms, registering the highest fall of 15 per cent to S$79 per night, followed by Hanoi at S$96. Not far behind was Cebu, where room ratesfell 5 per cent to S$102. These cities also made up the Top 3 best value Asian backpacker destinations for Singapore travellers (Figure 1).
Singapore travellers also enjoyed bargains elsewhere in the world, especially in Europe where prices fell substantially in 20 out of 24 European destinations included in the report. Travellers got the best deal in Athens, where hotel rates dropped a whopping 19 per cent to an average price of S$143 a night, followed by Prague at S$156 per night(Figure 2). Popular European destinations that saw prices fall included crowd favourite London, which dipped 3 per cent and Rome, which saw a double-digit decline of 10 per cent.
Value-for-money accommodation available in Singapore
The report also found that Singaporeans paid the second highest amount for hotel rooms at home, spending an average of S$233 per night compared to just S$180 abroad (Figure 3). Additionally, travellers from over half of the destinations also paid more to travel to Singapore compared to the year before, with Bra il paying the most at S$345 per night, followed by Japan and Russia at S$331 and S$300 respectively.
In spite of this, visitors to Singapore can still find value in terms of accommodation, as hotel room rates in the city-state were found to have dipped two per cent compared to 2011, down to an average of S$239 per night. This was in contrast to the overall price rise in other destinations in the region.
The Hotels.com HPI is based on bookings made on Hotels.com sites around the world and tracks the real prices paid per hotel room (rather than advertised rates) for almost 155,000 properties across more than 20,000 locations.
Figure 1: Best value Asian backpacker destinations in SGD
Figure 2: Best value European destinations in SGD
Figure 3: Average room prices paid by travellers when travelling overseas versus those paid within their own countries in Singapore Dollars
Holidays abroad now more affordable for Singaporeans - eTravelBlackboard
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