Global fall in hotel prices. - Good news for travellers - the average price of a hotel room around the world fell by 12% last year. According to the latest Hotels.com quarterly study (the most popular hotel reservations website in the world), the fall in prices has speeded up over recent months. According to statistics based on the Hotel Price Index (HPI) sample of 68,000 hotels in 12,500 different locations, prices fell in the fourth quarter of 2008 to their lowest level since 2004, the year the index was set up. The last three months of 2008 were marked by an average fall of 12% compared to the same period in 2007 (four times more than the fall in the third quarter of 2007 which was -3%). Hotel room prices increased by 3% in the first quarter and by 2% in the second. The trend was observed last year and increased by the end of last year owing to the worsening economic situation. Nigel Pocklington from Hotles.com said that they were expecting the fall to get sharper and explained that the fall in the big markets, like New York, was linked to the economic cycle. The study was based in euros and illustrated that changes on the currency markets could accentuate this phenomenon. This has been the case for London, which has experienced a 24% fall. In Europe, prices paid by travellers for hotel rooms during the 4th quarter of 2008 fell by 10% compared to those during the 4th quarter (Q4) of 2007. The study pointed out that European hotel prices were considerably reduced in an effort to retain occupancy during the last months of the year. The European HPI fell to 102 during the fourth quarter of 2008 as opposed to 113 during the third quarter of the same year. Switzerland is top of the table with a €144 average per night. This is the only country that has experienced an annual rise (+7%). It is followed by Denmark (€126; -6%), Norway (€121; -18%) and the United Kingdom which experienced the sharpest fall (€116; -24%). Prices in North America fell by the greatest extent, down 12% in Q4 2008 compared to the year before. Prices for hotel rooms in Europe fared little better, dropping 10% during the same period. In the Caribbean and Latin America they fell by 7%, while in Asia, hotel prices held up slightly better falling just 2% compared to the same period a year earlier. This is the first fall in Asia since the HPI was set up in January 2004. Prices plunged in Bombay and Delhi (-38% and -36%) due to the attacks and currency changes. Moscow is still the most expensive city in the world with a €231 average per night in Q4 2008, despite a 16% fall compared to the same period in 2007, followed by Abu Dhabi, whose prices, on the contrary, rose by an exceptional 24% and Dubai (-5%). Geneva was the most expensive west European city in Q4 2008, with an average annual price increase of 15% to €177. (I.L./transl.rh)