Hotel rates in Dubai fell by up to 26 percent in the first six months of 2009 for visitors paying in US dollars, while Abu Dhabi hotels saw declines of nine percent, according to the latest Hotels.com hotels price index (HPI).
Globally, hotel rates fell by an average of 17 percent in the first half of the year, compared to the same period in 2008, the HPI showed.
For UK visitors paying for hotel rooms in pounds sterling, room rates in Dubai dropped a more modest 4 percent year on year, while rates for UK travellers actually rose by 15 percent in nearby Abu Dhabi, Hotelier Middle East reported on Tuesday.
As a result of the changes in prices, fewer British and Russian travellers visited Dubai in the first half of 2009 and more visitors from the US and Italy took their place, the report added.
Hotel prices in June were more than one sixth lower than they were the year before and room rates were just 1 percent above their level in January 2004, when the Hotel Price Index was started.
David Roche said the "dampening effect of falling consumer demand" has been compounded by "sharply increased hotel capacity".
"In the first half of 2009 an ever larger number of hotel rooms chased a dwindling stream of customers, and this 'double whammy' lowered prices by 17 percent globally," Roche added.
"As demand fell, hoteliers closed floors and cut back both services and prices, creating a market with a distinctly promotional character that is likely to endure for some time."
Prices for hotel rooms in North America were down by 17 percent, with rates in Europe faring little better, dropping 16 percent during the same period.
The Hotels.com HPI tracks the real prices paid per hotel room rather than advertised rates. It is based on prices actually paid by customers for 70,000 properties across 13,000 locations around the world.
The latest HPI looks at hotel prices for the period January to June 2009, compared to the same period the year before.
