For luxury hotel brands this information should be used to target and attract guests. This data is very helpful to use for public relations consulting campaigns. Right now luxury trips are in hot demand and here is how-to increase brand awareness.
TripAdvisor is the world’s largest travel site, enabling travelers to plan and have the perfect trip. TripAdvisor offers trusted advice from real travelers and a wide variety of travel choices and planning features with seamless links to booking tools. TripAdvisor branded sites make up the largest travel community in the world, with more than 200 million unique monthly visitors, and over 100 million reviews and opinions covering more than 2.5 million accommodations, restaurants and attractions. The sites operate in 30 countries worldwide, including China under daodao.com. TripAdvisor also includes TripAdvisor for Business, a dedicated division that provides the tourism industry access to millions of monthly TripAdvisor visitors.
TripAdvisor TripIndex Cities is tracked against the U.S. dollar and is based on the combined costs for two for a one night stay in a four-star hotel, cocktails, a two-course dinner paired with a bottle of wine, and round-trip taxi transportation (two miles each way). Costs reflect summer rates (June 1 – August 31, 2013).
Most Expensive U.S. Destination
Among TripIndex Cities, Honolulu rings up the biggest tab as the most expensive U.S. destination with a TripIndex cost of $504.94, while Las Vegas offers the most affordable stay at $272.94. Oslo, Norway comes in as the costliest global city at $581.08, nearly four times the price of a night spent in Sofia, Bulgaria, the best bargain on the world list at $158.42.
Hotels Hike Prices and Honolulu Hops Spots
The TripIndex shows the U.S. average nightly rate for a four-star hotel has risen 18 percent since the 2012 summer travel period.1
The U.S. cities with the largest increase in summer hotel prices, 2012-2013:
1. Orlando +33%
2. Denver +32%
3. Honolulu +29%
4. Los Angeles +29%
5. Seattle +26%
With the third largest increase in year-over-year hotel rates a contributing factor, Honolulu jumped four spots from last year and is now the most expensive U.S. city on the list, leapfrogging New York City, Boston, and San Francisco, the top three priciest places in 2012.
Head South for Savings
For the third consecutive year, the South is the most affordable region in America with five of the 10 least expensive TripIndex cities: Miami (#2), Dallas (#3), Atlanta (#4), New Orleans (#6) and Houston (#7). Travelers visiting these bargain belles can expect to shell out an average of $336.44, compared to the national average of $398.95.
Affordable Asia
Asia is featured heavily in the 10 most affordable international destinations, claiming four cities in total. Hanoi, Vietnam (#2), Bangkok, Thailand (#6), Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (#7) and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (#10). With an average cost of $203.79, these Asian escapes offer substantial savings as compared to the TripIndex world average of $321.70.
European Expenses
Europe is home to the most expensive international cities with six of the top 10 destinations: Oslo, Norway (#1), Zurich, Switzerland (#2), Stockholm, Sweden (#3), Paris, France (#5), London, England (#7) and Copenhagen, Denmark (#8). Travelers committed to traveling to Europe can find affordable escapes with Sofia, Bulgaria; Warsaw, Poland and Budapest, Hungary all within the top five least expensive international cities, coming in respectively at first, third, and fifth.