Eurozone travellers cashing-in on weak pound

Travellers from the Eurozone are flocking to London and other UK cities according to the world’s leading accommodation website, Hotels.com as the price they pay for rooms across the country have dropped.

The combination of hoteliers cutting their rates and a falling pound has meant that the average price of a hotel room in the UK has fallen by some 13% on average (in all destinations).

Of the UK destinations favoured by travellers from the major Eurozone nations, prices fell to the greatest extent in Scottish cities, down most dramatically in Edinburgh and Glasgow – where they dropped by one fifth (20%) year-on-year. Prices in London were down by 13% for European travellers.

In London, the price paid by a traveller in Euros had fallen to just €136 from €156 a year or more ago. The average price paid in Edinburgh, meanwhile fell to €126 from €158 – down €32 in the course of a year. While UK travellers may not be feeling the benefit of the weaker pound – as hotel rooms for residents have fallen, but to a far lesser extent – those businesses that rely on travellers from overseas have had an unforeseen uplift in recent weeks.

Alison Couper, Director of Communications at Hotels.com, says:

“Because the Euro has been so strong against the pound, travellers from the Eurozone countries have seen the prices they pay for hotels in the UK fall dramatically in recent weeks. The combination of heavy discounting on the UK high street and falling prices for hotel rooms has made the UK’s biggest cities hugely attractive. Many hoteliers and tourism-driven retailers are reporting that this has been a welcome boost to their businesses.”

The Hotels.com HPI tracks the real prices paid per hotel room and is considered by some to be the most comprehensive and accurate source of global hotel pricing information. It is based on prices actually paid by customers for 68,000 hotels across 12,500 locations around the world, rather than simply advertised rates.