Business travel boom sends global hotel prices sky high

A SURGE in corporate travel to the world’s new economic powerhouses has sent hotel prices soaring for business travellers visiting hotspots like Sydney and Sao Paulo.

The latest hotel price index from Hotels.com shows average room rates increasing in emerging markets such as the “Bric” nations, and in business hub cities in countries that have best weathered the economic downturn.

In the first half of 2011, room rates in Brazil were up 7 per cent to £132, while in Russia they grew by 11 per cent to £141.

In Sao Paulo – where the a lack of hotels being built exacerbated the situation – prices were up 27 per cent to £123. In Sydney, rates rose 22 per cent to £110, rooms in Hong Kong were up 17 per cent to £110, and rates in Singapore and Moscow were up 11 per cent to £130 and £157 respectively.

Alison Couper, of Hotels.com, said: “It’s fair to say hotel rates are serving as a good barometer of the growing importance of cities in these rapidly-developing countries.”