Mumbai remains the costliest city for travellers: report

Mumbai: With more travellers and higher consumer spending in key areas, overall hotel prices went up in the first six months of 2015 and the commercial capital of the country recorded the highest rise of 5 per cent with an average of Rs 8,091 per night, a report said.       

"In India, overall hotel prices paid by all travellers saw a marginal rise of 2 per cent in the first six months of 2015, to an average of Rs 6,411 per night," according to the latest Hotel Price Index (HPI) from Hotels.com. It said, Mumbai, known for its buzzing night life recorded the highest rise of 5 per cent with an average of Rs 8,091 making it the city in India where travellers paid the        most in the first half of 2015.       

In the first half of 2014, the travellers paid an average Rs 7,694 per night, according to Hotels.com data. More travellers, higher consumer spending in key areas and strong currency fluctuations have all contributed to this result, it said.  The HPI is a regular 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.       

The data is drawn from bookings made on the hundreds of thousands of hotels on the Hotels.com websites worldwide. Delhi, the city with heady mix of forts and food, retained its second spot despite a fall of 3 per cent with an average of Rs 6,677 per night. Kolkata, which saw two per cent decline in prices came in number four position with Rs 6,263 per night compared to same period last year at Rs 6,367. Hyderabad, which saw a fall of 3 per cent at Rs 5,339 per night compared to Rs 5,482 in the same period last year, was the eighth expensive city of the country, the report said.

While cities like Bengaluru and Pune both had marginal rise of 3 per cent, Goa, which recorded the highest rise of 12 per cent last year, saw a minimal rise of 3 per cent with an average of Rs 5,940 in the first half of 2015.  Chennai saw no change in price variation for hotel accommodation in the first six months of 2015, compared to the  same period last year. However, Jaipur continues to serve best value among the cities analysed with an average of Rs 5,062 despite a rise of 4 per cent.