Hotel Prices in London Drop Slightly Ahead of Olympic Games

With just over a month to go until the world's top athletes descend upon London to compete for gold, the latest figures from Hotels.com show that travellers planning to visit London to watch the games, but who have yet to book accommodation, are better placed to find value for money, than they were two months ago.

 Hotels.com has reported that the average price of a London hotel room during the Olympics has risen by approximately 93% year-on-year to HK$2,525 per night. However, historical data from Hotels.com shows that the average price has actually decreased by about HK$138 a night, when May is compared to March this year.

Jessica Chuang, Senior Marketing Manager, Hotels.com Greater China, said, It's inevitable that prices rise in host cities during major sporting events. During the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, Hotels.com saw hotel prices in Cape Town rise 71% compared to the corresponding period in 2009 ... In London, hotel prices have come down as there are still good deals and availability during the Olympic period. That's not to say prices will continue to drop further so travellers are advised to book now if they see a good deal and not to wait for bargains at such a busy time of year.

The online hotel booking website found that rates on accommodation vary greatly depending on how close the hotel is to the Olympic action.

The most popular nights for hotel bookings are for the Opening Ceremony on 27 July, and the first day of the athletics on 3 August.

On the night of the Opening Ceremony, travellers can get a four-star hotel in Central London for around HK$1,813. In West London, travellers can stay in a three-star hotel for around HK$1,288 per night and there still seems to be plenty of budget accommodation available.

Interestingly, search figures from Hotels.com shows demand for hotel rooms reflects the top of the medal table from the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Searches are up a whopping 300% in China and 206% in Russia, first and third on the 2008 podium of best-performing countries. Searches are up 92% in the US, which ranked second on the 2008 medal table. Searches among Hong Kong travellers are up by 54% too.

North American Leisure Travel Edges Ahead of Global Market

North American leisure travel outpaced global travel bookings in September by 1.4%, according to data from Pegasus Solutions.

Overall, the leisure market saw leisure bookings gain momentum worldwide from the +4.2% increase seen in August, evidencing a surge in off-peak travel.

In the midst of the Euro debt crisis, Europe?s leisure reservations actually declined slightly by -0.5% compared to September 2010.

Globally, the ADR for leisure bookings increased by +3% over prior year, with North America jumping +5%, ahead of the +3.8% year-to-date pace. Outside North America, ADR stayed ahead of the prior year by +1.5%.

?The leisure market?s showing in September evidenced a move towards off-peak travel by consumers,? said Mike Kistner, chief executive officer of Pegasus Solutions. ?It?s not a month we usually would expect to see leisure gains, but efforts to make travel dollars go farther by travelling during the traditional ?off-season? made bookings jump, especially in North America. Hoteliers for their part resisted deep discounting following the summer peak season, and as a result drove more revenue as leisure bookings poured in at more moderate, off-peak rates.?

The corporate market continued to grow over prior year, registering a +6.1% increase in global GDS channel bookings; this was slower than August?s uptick of +10.2%, but ahead of July?s +5.8% pace. Rates remained positive, rising by +3.5% globally over 2010. Looking forward, corporate bookings and rates are both expected to continue beating prior year figures through the fourth quarter, with the potential for slower booking growth combined with a rate uptick come January.

The Pegasus View comes from billions of transactions processed monthly by Pegasus Solutions and reflects data drawn from both GDS and ADS transactions, representing the business and leisure markets respectively for approximately 90,000 hotels worldwide.

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