Overseas hotels: Indians 6th biggest spenders

Indian travellers have emerged as the sixth biggest spenders on hotels globally while traveling overseas in 2010 with an average spend of Rs 6,722 per night despite remaining value conscious during domestic outings, according to a latest survey.

Indians have surpassed travellers from the UK, France, Germany and Singapore in terms of hotel spends, Hotel Price Index by Hotels.com said.

However, when it comes to domestic travel, Indians are ranked 12th with an average traveller spending Rs 4,136 within the country in 2010.

"Indian travellers are emerging as a high spending addition to the world travel market which is evident from the fact that they are more than willing to spend more than many others on their holiday experiences," Abhiram Chowdhry, marketing director (Asia Pacific), Hotels.com said.

Travellers from the US continue to be the biggest spenders when they travel abroad according to the survey, spending Rs 7,309 per night on average when travelling overseas.

"US travellers are followed by those from Russia and Japan, who spent Rs 7,302 and Rs 7,093, respectively per night on hotels in 2010," the statement said.

In terms of destinations, New York kept its place as the most expensive overseas destination for Indian travellers after Rs 11,686 per night in 2010, which is 7 per cent more than the previous year.

Even Singapore showed a big increase with the average prices going up 26 per cent on a year on year basis at Rs 8,237 per night in 2010.

"However, there were still some great value destinations to be found for travellers, who were prepared to shop around as Bangkok witnessed the biggest price fall from Rs 4,557 in 2009 to Rs 4,015 in 2010," the survey said.

Party destination Las Vegas was also amongst the best value cities for Indians at number 15 with an average per night cost of Rs 6,157 making it an attractive proposition for travellers.

Globally, cities that have seen a decline in room rates in 2010 in the range of 2 per cent to 12 per cent compared to 2009 are Milan, Rome, Amsterdam, Zurich, Dubai, Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur.

On the other hand, cities like New York, London, Paris, Frankfurt, Singapore, San Francisco, Hong Kong, Los Angeles, Shanghai and Las Vegas witnessed an increase in hotel rates last year compared to 2009 in the range of 5 to 30 per cent.