Hotel prices in Australia rise; Canberra now most expensive for hotels

Australian hotel prices have risen by 5 percent in the last year, with the average daily rate for hotel rooms across the country hitting $152 per night.

Canberra saw the highest rise, with rates increasing by 18 percent to hit an average of $189 per night. The capital also took over from Perth as the city with Australia's most expensive average hotel price, according to the Hotel Price Index (HPI) from hotels.com.

Sydney hotel prices also rose steeply, with a 16 percent overall rise compared with last year. By contrast, Melbourne's hotel prices were unchanged from last year.

Hotels in Cairns were Australia's cheapest, with an average rate of $118 per night.

Abroad, the strength of the Australian dollar means that hotels overseas are proportionally cheaper for Australian business travellers. 

The price in Australian dollars for European hotels fell sharply, with Austria dropping by 19 percent and Finland dropping by 18 percent. 

Across the Asia-Pacific region, hotel prices dropped slightly, although business destinations such as Singapore saw price increases as the global financial crisis began to ease. 

Singapore saw an average nightly rate of A$210, an increase of 14 percent on last year's figures even taking into account the Australian dollar's strength. In Singapore dollars, prices rose by a whopping 29 percent.

The most expensive countries for hotels were Switzerland, France and the UK, coming in only a few dollars more expensive than Singapore.

New Zealand, though, has the cheapest hotels for Australian travellers: the average room rate across the Tasman last year was A$111 per night.

On average, Australians spent A$166 per night on hotels. According to the HPI, that means that "Australians are among the biggest spenders on hotels after only the Americans and Russians".

John Walton

Aviation journalist and travel columnist John took his first long-haul flight when he was eight weeks old and hasn't looked back since. Well, except when facing rearwards in business class.