Hotel Rates Increasing for the Traveling Businessman

Although we are in an economic "slump" right now, there have been a few, very few, benefits to the poor economic condition of our country. One such benefit was that the traveling businessman would see a decrease in hotel rates whenever they found themselves traveling to their next trade show in a big city.

But that trend seems to be decreasing ever since the economy has tried to boost itself back up. Hotel rates have been rising steadily in some major trade show cities. According to the September 2010 Hotel Price Index, there was a 2% global increase in average hotel room rates paid in the beginning half of this year for the first time since the end of 2007.

Hotel rates in New York, Washington, D.C., Boston, Las Vegas, Atlanta, Dallas and Toronto, which are all very popular trade show cities, have had hotel rates that have risen. Thankfully, some cities, like Chicago, have stayed the same while cities like San Diego and Orlando have hotel rates that are continuing to decrease.

According to Vice President of Marketing for Hotels.com North America Victor Owens, "Business capitals of the world, such as New York, London and Singapore, are seeing significant price hikes again. The return of corporate travel, more so in North America than Europe, has been and continues to be a key factor in stabilizing and even improving hotel rates."

Hotels that heavily rely on corporate travel lowered their room rates to record lows in 2009 in order to fill rooms and meet occupancy quotas. The most expensive city on the list for 2010 is New York City coming in with an average rate of $224 as opposed to last year's $199. In 2008 hotel rooms were more expensive with rates as high as $262.

Rates in Washington, D.C. rose more than $50 to $195 a night as opposed to $144 last year. Contrary to D.C., Orlando has had steadily decreasing rates with an average of $88 per night as opposed to last year's $94.

However, according the the report, the biggest rate decrease hit Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, dropping from $304 to $163, a staggering 46% decrease from last year. The Asia-Pacific market bottomed out last year and is now recovering with rates rising in Shanghai, Singapore, Seoul and Hong Kong.

While the increase in hotel rates may seem bad for the traveling businessman, it sure seems like it means good things for the economy.

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