Melbourne, Singapore & Sydney Have Highest Average Room Rates in APAC

According to the HRS Annual Hotel Price Radar, the cities of Melbourne, Sydney, and Singapore had the most expensive average hotel room rates in 2014.

With a 30% hike, Melbourne in Australia saw the biggest increase in hotel room rates in 2014, something which could be attributed to the burgeoning MICE sector in in the city.

Closely following Melbourne is Sydney, which took the second spot on the hotel rooms rate list.

“Hotel room rates are a key indicator of both tourism and business travel levels throughout the year and our analysis shows that companies have confidence in the APAC region and are continuing to push for global growth,” said Todd Arthur, Managing Director APAC at HRS. “HRS’ goal is to support businesses as they address business travel related challenges, and identify smarter, strategic and more cost effective accommodation solutions that allow their employees to  do their best work while on the move.”

HRS’ analysis also revealed the varying impact of political instability in different countries. Bangkok experienced a 10% drop in room rates in 2014, as it struggled to overcome the impact of the tenuous political situation and unrest that plagued the capital city during parts of 2014. Hong Kong, on the other hand, which takes the fourth place on the list of most expensive cities in terms of hotel room rates, witnessed a drop of less than a percentage point even with the Occupy Central civil disobedience movement taking place in the second half of the year. Hong Kong’s much more established position as a financial and business hub in Asia Pacific might be one of the reasons for this discrepancy.

Hotel rates in economic powerhouses such as Sydney, Singapore, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Jakarta, and Beijing, hotel room rates remained fairly stable with a less than 5% change as compared to the previous year.

The results are based on data collected from all hotel bookings made via the HRS hotel portal in 2014.