There seems to be no end to skyrocketing hotel prices in Asia. The average daily rate across the Asia Pacific region was up more than 13 percent this year through June, to $137, according to a report released last week by Deloitte and Touche. There were significant gains in revenue per available room, or RevPAR, too.
Aside from the general improvement in Asian economies over the past couple of years, Deloitte cited the recent waves of new and expanding low-cost airlines in Asia as the single biggest factor in the hotel price increases. "The growth of low-cost airlines is making the region more accessible, allowing tourists to travel more easily to a wider range of destinations," said Lorna Clarke, executive director of HotelBenchmark at Deloitte.
Latest figures from the World Tourism Organization show that Asia experienced stronger growth in international arrivals than any world region during the first four months of 2007.
Among the biggest winners have been some of Asia’s key resort destinations. The Indonesian island of Bali has continued to recover despite fresh travel warnings, achieving an astounding 59 percent RevPAR growth in the first half of 2007--quite a turnaround after terrorist bomb attacks in 2002 and 2005 virtually wiped out foreign visitors. In Phuket, Thailand, RevPAR swelled by 40 percent, and in Penang, Malaysia, average daily rates were up by 35 percent (although RevPAR growth was comparatively low at 18 percent).
Phuket has been stealing business and group traffic from Bangkok, where hotel occupancy fell almost 8 percent and RevPAR rose by only 3 percent.
The hotel markets in many other large Asian cities are performing spectacularly, though. In Vietnam, where there is a severe hotel shortage, Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi recorded 49 percent and 34 percent RevPAR growth, respectively. Singapore and Manila also continued their impressive form, with RevPAR gains near 30 percent.
On the opposite end of the spectrum is China, where continued massive hotel development has diluted occupancy levels. In Shanghai, which will see its supply increase by more than 6,000 rooms in 2007, RevPAR fell 1.2 percent in the first half of 2007.