The Irish have topped the list as Europe’s biggest spenders on hotels when they leave their own country, according to the latest figures for Q4 2008 released in the Hotels.com Hotel Price Index (HPI ). The HPI is a survey of hotel prices in major city destinations across the world based on bookings made on Hotels.com
The Irish are willing to spend on average €134 per night on hotels abroad, closely followed by Italian and Spanish travellers, who spend €132 and €131 each per night respectively, according to the HPI. This figure has dropped slightly from a €140 average spend on hotel rooms per night by the Irish when abroad from the last Hotels.com HPI report, released in December 2008, which recorded activity for the period July-September 2008.
David Roche, president, Hotels.com Worldwide, comments: “It is very interesting to see that the Irish have retained the title as the biggest spenders in Europe on hotel rooms when travelling outside their own country and is probably why they are welcomed tourists throughout the world. The Irish have earned a reputation of being great spenders while on recreational breaks.”
Our UK neighbours rank in 11th position, paying €116 on a night’s stay in a hotel abroad in Q4 2008. Interestingly, the Brits were the only nationality who were willing to pay the same for a hotel room abroad as they would when staying at home.
The Germans and the Finns were at the other end of the scale, spending the least amount on hotel rooms while staying abroad when compared to their European counterparts. The Germans and Finnish both spend on average €113 on their hotel stays.
Belgians take first position as the highest spenders on hotel rooms in their own country, at an average of €132. The Germans rank in second place for the biggest spend on hotels for domestic travel, with an average spend of €127, which is an interesting finding considering they are the savviest of spenders while travelling outside their own country.
The Portuguese spend the least of all European countries surveyed when staying in their own country, with an average nightly price of €75 per room, compared to €129 when they stay abroad (fourth highest spend ). The Irish rank ninth, with an average spend of €102 per night for stays in a hotel at home.
The Hotels.com HPI tracks the real prices paid per hotel room rather than advertised rates. It is based on prices actually paid by customers for 68,000 hotels across 12,500 locations around the world. The latest HPI looks at hotel prices for the period October to December 2008, compared to the same period the year before.
