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Record number of visitors triggers hike in Kiwi hotel prices

Published: Wed 2 Sep 2015 02:41 PM
Record number of visitors triggers hike in Kiwi hotel prices
• New Zealand hotel prices rose by 9 per cent in first six months of 2015, according to latest Hotel Price Index from Hotels.com
• Auckland recorded the largest growth in New Zealand hotel prices in the first half of 2015
• Globally, hotel prices paid by travellers worldwide rose by just 1 per cent during the first six months of 2015, but European prices fell for Kiwi travellers
With the tourism industry in New Zealand riding on a wave of unprecedented growth, the latest Hotels.com™ Hotel Price Index™ (HPI™) has revealed the average price paid by all travellers, both international and domestic, for a hotel room in New Zealand increased by 9 per cent to $171 per night in the first six months of 2015 compared with the same period in 2014.
The sharp rise in local hotel prices comes off the back of a 7 per cent[1] increase in international visitors to New Zealand in the year ending June 2015, representing the highest ever annual total.
The HPI is a regular report on hotel prices in major destinations across the world, tracking the movement in prices that people actually paid for their accommodation and providing valuable insight into the reasons behind these changes. The data is drawn from bookings made on the hundreds of thousands of hotels on the Hotels.com websites worldwide.
Ninety-five per cent of Kiwi destinations included in the Hotels.com brand’s HPI saw an increase in hotel prices paid in the first half of 2015, with the City of Sails recording the largest surge of 16 per cent to $171 per night, followed by Queenstown, where the average hotel price paid rose 14 per cent to $226. Invercargill and Palmerston North both came in third place recording 12 per cent growth, with average room rates rising to $199 and $133 respectively.
The nation’s capital also registered a healthy increase, with prices paid in Wellington rising by 10 per cent to $164 per night. Growth in Christchurch hotel prices paid was slower, at only 2 per cent, to $167 per night.
Blenheim was the only area in New Zealand to experience a decrease in hotel prices in the first half of the year, down 1 per cent to $166.
Despite the New Zealand dollar being weaker against the Euro, hotel prices dropped in Europe for Kiwi travellers in the first half of 2015, meaning guests received better value for hotels in that part of the world than the year before. Paris saw the biggest fall in average prices paid, with a 21 per cent decrease to $211 per night, while visitors to Amsterdam paid 7 per cent less on average per night to $201, and 6 per cent less in Berlin to $147 per night.
Katherine Cole, Regional Director, Australia, New Zealand & Singapore for the Hotels.com brand, says: “The New Zealand tourism industry continued to soar in the first half of the year, with increasing demand from both international and domestic visitors across the board.”
“The rise in hotel prices was largely due to a significant increase in demand, driven in particular by New Zealand playing host to a number of high-profile international events including the Cricket World Cup.”
Ms Cole said also that Chinese travellers in particular were flocking to New Zealand in record numbers. According to the Hotels.com brand’s recent Chinese International Travel Monitor, more than 264,000 visitors from China arrived in New Zealand in 2014, an increase of more than 15 per cent on the previous year, while China remained New Zealand’s second-highest inbound market after Australia last year.
“With the widest range of hotel choices, competitive deals and leading-edge technology,Hotels.com is the ideal place to find a bargain for a holiday this year,” she said.
Across the Tasman, Kiwis will find good value in Queensland, with average prices paid per in Cairns dropping by 16 per cent and in Brisbane by 12 per cent, taking the average cost per night to $155 and $176 respectively in the six months of 2015 as compared to the same period in 2014.
However, Kiwis will need to save a bit more for a trip to Fiji, with hotel prices paid rising by 20 per cent in the Pacific nation to an average of $255 per night.
Cities across the US were the least affordable international destinations for Kiwis in the first half of 2015, with Washington DC recording the largest increase in hotel prices in the destinations analysed by the HPI (25 per cent to $273 per night), followed by San Francisco (17 per cent to $311), Los Angeles (13 per cent to $256) and Chicago (9 per cent to $283).
A snapshot of hotel prices in the first six months (H1) of 2015:
Average NZ hotel prices paid in H1 2015 compared with H1 2014 by all travellers, both international and domestic:
DestinationH1 2015H1 2014% change
Queenstown $226 $199 14%
Lake Tekapo $210 $208 1%
Franz Josef Glacier $176 $163 8%
Auckland $171 $148 16%
Fox Glacier $171 $158 8%
Tauranga $170 $161 5%
Paihia $168 $160 5%
Christchurch $167 $163 2%
Blenheim $166 $168 -1%
Wellington $164 $148 10%
Kaikoura $161 $150 7%
Taupo $160 $156 2%
Napier $159 $156 2%
Dunedin $158 $153 4%
Te Anau $158 $142 11%
New Plymouth $151 $140 7%
Nelson $146 $143 2%
Rotorua $142 $131 8%
Palmerston North $133 $119 12%
Hamilton $132 $126 5%
Invercargill $119 $106 12%
International destinations where hotel prices paid per night by Kiwi travellers in H1 2015 increased most as compared to H1 2014:
DestinationH1 2015H1 2014% change
Washington DC $273 $218 25%
Nadi $255 $212 20%
Shanghai $186 $155 20%
San Francisco $311 $266 17%
Patong $101 $89 13%
Los Angeles $256 $227 13%
Bangkok $105 $95 10%
Ho Chi Minh City $89 $82 10%
Chicago $283 $261 9%
International destinations where hotel prices paid per night by Kiwi travellers in H1 2015 decreased most as compared to H1 2014:
DestinationH1 2015H1 2014% change
Paris $211 $266 -21%
Cairns $155 $185 -16%
Brisbane $176 $201 -12%
Anaheim $182 $199 -9%
Hong Kong $213 $231 -7%
Kuala Lumpur $111 $120 -7%
Amsterdam $201 $216 -7%
Singapore $222 $236 -6%
Berlin $147 $155 -6%
Bali $132 $137 -4%
ENDS

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