Thais win nine out of 10

BANGKOK  Most of the top 10 overseas destinations favoured by Thai travellers experienced hotel price drops in the first half of 2015, according to the latest price index from Hotels.com.
The popular hotel booking website said that nine of the top 10 destinations visited by Thais “became more affordable” in the first half of the year.
Global hotel prices paid by travellers worldwide rose by just 1% during first half 2015, representing great value for travellers.
For the first time, hotel prices, paid for in three world regions, have overtaken their pre-financial crisis levels of 2008/2009, with North America, the Caribbean and Latin America setting new records, although the overall global rise was just 1% in the first half of 2015.
Hotel bellMore travellers, higher consumer spending in key areas and strong currency fluctuations have all contributed to this result.
However, there was good news for Thai travellers because nine of the top 10 popular international destinations for Thais posted price declines. The exception was Siem Reap, which had a 1% increase in hotel prices.
Nine of the 10 top overseas destinations for Thai travellers experienced a hotel price drop of at least 3% when compared to the first half of 2014.
The city that had the highest price drop was Kuala Lumpur, placing 6th in popularity, which had a price drop of 28%, from THB2,795 to THB 2,026. In the meantime, hotel prices in Seoul dropped 28% from an average of THB4,173 in the first six months of 2014 to THB3,195 in the same period this year. Seoul ranked the 5th favourite destination for Thais.
Pangkor Laut ResortParis, which was the 8th most popular international destination, followed the pack with a 20% decrease, from an average of THB7,784 to THB 6,259.
The destinations with lower percentage drops were New York (# 10) down 3%, Osaka (#2) down 5% and Hong Kong (#4) down 7%. The only city from Thais’ top 10 desirable destinations which did not experience a price drop was Siem Reap (#9, up 1% from an average of THB1,782 to THB1,802.
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.
Table demonstrating destination popularity and average hotel prices paid by Thai travellers in the first half of 2015 compared with the same period in 2014 (THB)
*Average prices paid per night inclusive of taxes and fees.

sourced:ttrweekly.com