July 20, 2010--Tulsa tops a monthly list of North American cities where hotel rates have dropped the most from a year ago, according to the July 2010 Hotwire Hotel Rate Report.

Introduced in March 2009 by Hotwire.com, a discount travel site, the report lists Tulsa for the first time this month.

Tulsa along with Princeton, N.J., and Omaha, Neb., make their debut on the list in the top three spots with drops of 11 percent, 9 percent and 7 percent, respectively.

According to the report, many of the new cities on this month's list, including Tulsa and Princeton, are facing a decline in business and group travel compared with last year.

Also, aggressively priced properties have come on board in these cities, causing even more competition in an already competitive environment, the report states. As a result, hoteliers are dropping rates to lure back business and leisure customers alike, it says.

To compile the list, Hotwire looks at rates from a wide range of markets, compares pricing trends from the previous year and factors in month-by-month price fluctuations.

Prices are compared within the same star rating categories for consistency, and the percent change in price for each region is generated as an overall average of the changes in those categories. Actual prices could be higher or lower than the example provided, the report states.

For example, the report lists a Hotwire deal on a 3.5-star hotel in Tulsa at $76 a night this month.

"Although hotels in some larger, more popular markets have begun to stabilize as compared to last year, there are still plenty of great getaway destinations where hotel prices continue to fall," said Clem Bason, president of the Hotwire Group, in a written statement. "With a little flexibility, travelers can discover a new city and still have the vacation experience they're looking for without having to pay top dollar."

Top price reductions

The top 10 hotel price reductions this month compared with July 2009, according to Hotwire.com

1. Tulsa, -11 percent

2. Princeton, N.J., -- 9 percent

3. Omaha, Neb., -7 percent

4. Richmond, Va., -7 percent

5. Sacramento, Calif., -5 percent

6. Miami/Fort Lauderdale, -5 percent

7. Madison, Wis., -4 percent

8. New Orleans, -3 percent

9. Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas, -2 percent

10. San Diego, -1 percent

-----

To see more of the Tulsa World, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.tulsaworld.com.

Copyright (c) 2010, Tulsa World, Okla.

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For more information about the content services offered by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services (MCT), visit www.mctinfoservices.com, e-mail [email protected], or call 866-280-5210 (outside the United States, call +1 312-222-4544).