Singapore room rates rising faster than in HK and Beijing

A new survey revealed that local hotel rates rose by 14% in 2010 on the back of higher visitor numbers and stronger Singapore dollar.

According to the Global Hotel Market Survey conducted by The Hogg Robinson Group, the city's increase in room rates is higher than that of Shanghai (2%) and Beijing (-10%).

In a statement, HRG said the surge is a reflection of the increasing number of visitors to the country, which totalled 11.9 million in 2010 according to the Singapore Tourism Board.

HRG's full year survey is based on a combination of industry intelligence, actual room nights booked and rates paid by its UK clients during January to December 2010 compared to the same period in 2009.

Margaret Bowler, Director of Global Hotel Relations at HRG, said the room rate increases recorded in more than half of the 75 cities included in the survey reflects the improving - albeit tentative - levels of business confidence.

“The latest HRG Hotel Survey illustrates how the upswing has bolstered hotel prices, particularly in the fast growing emerging markets in the South and East as economic power moves away from the West,” said Douglas McWilliams, Chief Executive of the Centre for Economics and Business Research Ltd., a group that analysed the HRG survey.

McWilliams noted that all key global focus cities demonstrated a considerably better year compared to 2009, when all were in negative growth.

Hong Kong, Zurich and Singapore, registered the best performance given the resurgence in business travel from the sector and continued investment in 2010.

In the Asia Pacific region, cities such as Hong Kong, Singapore and Seoul experienced a stronger recovery from the financial crisis due to their large financial centres, recording 12%, 14% and 15% growth, respectively.

McWilliams said the Asia Pacific’s rapid recovery from the financial crisis is evident in the statistics which show the advanced economies in Europe and North America playing a more subdued role.

“The HRG Hotel Survey illustrates this pattern as the strongest growth in hotel prices across 2010 took place in Africa and Asia Pacific, while hotel prices fell across Europe for the second successive year.

"In Africa, Asia and the Pacific, average hotel prices are now above pre-recession levels again as many economies have recorded a robust return to growth,” McWilliams said.