Prices paid overall not back to pre-economic crisis levels, representing great value for travellers, but three regions set new records for spending
Nine out of 10 from Thais' favourite destinations became more affordable in the first half of 2015
For the first time, hotel prices paid in three world regions have overtaken their pre-financial crisis levels of 2008/2009, with North America, the Caribbean and Latin America setting new records, although the overall global rise is up just 1% in the first half of 2015 compared to the same period in 2014 according to the latest Hotel Price Index™ (HPI™) from Hotels.com™. More travellers[1], higher consumer spending in key areas and strong currency fluctuations have all contributed to this result. However, there was great news for Thai travellers because top 10 popular international destinations for Thais had price decline, with Siem Reap, which had a mere 1% increase in hotel prices, as an exception.
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.
Thais' paid less for nine out 10 of their favourite overseas destinations
According to the latest Hotel Price Index (HPI) from Hotels.com, nine out of 10 top overseas destinations for Thai travellers experienced a hotel price paid drop of at least 3% when compared to the first half of 2014. The city that had the highest price drop was Kuala Lumpur, placing 6th in popularity, which had a price drop of 28%, from 2,795 THB to 2,026 THB. In the meantime, hotels in Seoul went from an average of 4,173 THB in the first six months of 2014 to 3,195 THB in the same period this year, a 23% drop. Seoul ranked as the 5th favourite destination for Thais. Paris, which was the8th most popular international destination, followed the pack with a 20% decrease, from an average of 7,784 THB to 6,259 THB.
The destinations that didn't suffer too much from the price drops are New York (# 10) with 3% drop, Osaka (#2) with 5% drop and Hong Kong (#4) with 7% drop. The only city from Thais' top 10 desirable destinations which did not experience the price drop was Siem Reap (#9). In fact, hotels in Siem Reap had a 1% increase in hotel prices from an average of 1,782 THB to 1,802 THB.
Table demonstrating destination popularity and average hotel prices paid by Thai travellers in the first half of 2015 compared with the same period in 2014 (THB)