At most hotels around the world, current room rates are already above pre-pandemic levels in 2019 and appear to be rising faster than inflation.
In the UK, for example, the average cost of a hotel room today is €105.27 per day. This is 11.45 euros more than in May 2019. The increase was over 12 percent with 77.4 percent downloads.
Irish hotels have risen in price even more — by 21.4 percent from €136.71 in May 2019 to €165.97 this month.
Hotel rates have also risen sharply in Portugal, Spain and Italy — by 15, 17 and 23 percent respectively.
The reason for the price increase is obvious: pent-up demand for travel after two years of lockdown and restrictions. “The pandemic has led to a severe drop in demand for hospitality services. But now, many hotels have reopened to international tourists and business travelers and are raising rates in response to the fact that they had a period of downtime. In other words, hotels are raising prices in an attempt to recover the money they lost during the pandemic, and the situation can be assessed as quite a market one.
The highest occupancy rate was observed in hotels in Ireland — 84.9 percent, UK — 77.4 and Italy — 72.9 percent.
Experts predict that over the next nine to twelve months, pent-up demand will continue to drive the hospitality industry faster than we expect today. Typically, price models are built on the basis of rising prices for energy, food and labor — hotels are forced to pass these costs on to consumers. But in 2022, a new, non-standard situation has arisen.
However, there are countries where hotel prices are not rising. France remains the most expensive country in terms of hotel booking — 197.67 euros per night, its average daily cost has actually fallen by 14.9 percent since 2019. The situation is similar in Denmark and Sweden.