Weak pound means higher hotel costs for business travellers

www.hrgworldwide.com

British business travellers are encountering higher hotel costs in eight of 12 cities surveyed in a new international study.

Figures were collected for the first nine weeks of this year by Hogg Robinson Group (HRG), and showed that due to a weakened pound, exchange rates have meant that corporate travellers saw rising hotel rates in two-thirds of the study’s destinations.

In all of the cities in the study, rates dropped more rapidly in February, which demonstrates the deepening impact of the recession, according to HRG.

Only Moscow recorded an average rate increase during February, which was up by three per cent. Dublin and Zurich reported the highest rate decreases – down by 21 per cent.

Abu Dhabi came in first as the city having the highest average rate, demonstrating a continuation of the growth seen in 2008.

Margaret Bowler, the hotel relations director at HRG, said: “We are in a year of change; this year is not about having a rate for 12 months, as this data set clearly demonstrates.”

She went on to say: “The global hotel industry continues to find itself in uncertain times with average rates falling and occupancy declining. Corporate clients need to continually review and consolidate the number of suppliers they work with.”

Thanks to www.travelmole.com for the above quotes, for more information on this article please visit their website.

www.hrgworldwide.com