Aussie globetrotters are Spending Big

Young couple at the hotel receptionYoung couple at the hotel reception

Travel-hungry Aussies paid more per night on average in over half of the top 100 popular international destinations, compared to 2015.

The Hotel Price Index™ (HPI™) from Hotels.com™ revealed the fluctuating Australian dollar did nothing to deter Aussies’ infamous love of travel in 2016.

Of the top 100 popular international destinations in 2016, the HPI found that Aussies took the YOLO attitude to the extreme in the United States and Greece, with Lahaina ($384), Mykonos ($356), New York ($345), Boston ($343) and Santorini ($329) taking out the top five spots Australians paid the most on average for a bed per night, of the hotels analysed.

Relax: beach palapa thatched roof - Cancun, caribbean tropical paradise

In Mexico, Aussie favourites Playa Del Carmen and Cancun slipped into the top ten least affordable holiday spots.

Australians continued to squeeze more juice out of their holiday dollars in Southeast Asia, with the region recording 18 of the lowest 20 averages paid per hotel night in the top 100 popular international destinations. Thanks to the steadfast exchange rate, Pattaya in Thailand was revealed as the most affordable holiday destination among those analysed, at $67 per night.

As the Brits voted to leave the EU in 2016, the Hotels.com HPI proved Brexit was a good thing for travellers who experienced more holiday buying power following the shock vote in June. The HPI found that a trip to the UK was the most affordable it’s been for some time, especially in the British capital of London, where the average price paid for a hotel room decreased by 10% in 2016, compared to 2015, to a more affordable $252 per night.

Big Ben and Whitehall from Trafalgar Square, London

The HPI reported that security concerns impacted hotel rates in Europe.

The Turkish city of Istanbul, which was rocked by terror attacks and an attempted military coup in 2016, topped the list of European destinations that saw the steepest decline in hotel prices (30% year-over-year). In Paris, the city’s average price was down by almost 10% year-over-year to $216 per night in the wake of terrorism attacks.

New Zealand was our most-loved holiday hot spot of the year, despite the Australian Dollar not stretching as far there. Hotel prices rose by 5% on average to $179 per night, with a night in the resort town of Queenstown the least affordable, up 12% on 2015 to $253 per night.

Pool setting

International travellers Down Under forked out more for hotels in 2016 than in 2015 according to the latest Hotel Price Index (HPI) from Hotels.com.

The HPI revealed that international travellers paid on average the most for a hotel room in the Northern Territory’s Yulara, while prices decreased for holiday-makers across states that cooled down following the slowdown in the mining and natural resources boom.

Average price paid in 2016 for a bed in Yulara increased by 13 per cent year-over-year to $350 per night, in part due to the heavy promotion of the Northern Territory’s Field of Light exhibition in 2016.

Conversely, states that cooled down following the slowdown of the natural resources boom experienced double-digit percentage decreases in the average price of hotel accommodation.

Tropical Port Douglas saw a 3% average price hike for a hotel room as the area’s peak season was extended longer than anticipated, while hotel prices in Sydney remained unchanged ($221) for international guests, compared to 2015.

The Hotels.com Hotel Price Index is an annual 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. To view the data in more detail visit hpi.hotels.com/au-2016

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