March 15, 2012--HONG KONG -- Hotel prices in cities across Asia dropped in 2011 because of a stuttering global economy, an oversupply of rooms and domestic crises, a survey released Thursday found.

Japan saw some of the biggest falls in the aftermath of its March 2011 earthquake, tsunami and nuclear accident, the survey by the bookings company Hotels.com found.

Average prices there were down 24 per cent year-on-year in Hiroshima to 110 US dollars a night and down 9 per cent in Tokyo to 163 US dollars.

In China, average room rates fell by 24 per cent in Shanghai to 118 US dollars because of a surplus after the 2010 World Expo while Beijing prices fell 5 per cent to 108 US dollars and Guangzhou prices 13 per cent to 126 US dollars because of oversupply.

In India, prices fell sharply as the country's currency depreciated. The average price of a room in New Delhi fell 27 per cent to 120 US dollars a night, a decline also partly due to the hike in room rates for the 2010 Commonwealth Games, the survey found.

Phnom Penh was the cheapest destination found in the survey with prices down 12 per cent year-on-year to 62 US dollars a night in 2011 due in part to border skirmishes between Thailand and Cambodia.

In Thailand, hotel prices dropped on islands popular with vacationers as long-haul visitors were put off by rising air fares, the survey's authors said. They were down 15 per cent to an average 164 US dollars a night on Phuket and 8 per cent to 130 US dollars a night on Ko Samui.

Bangkok hotel prices, affected by heavy flooding at the end of 2011, were down 3 per cent year-on-year to an average of 98 US dollars.

Elsewhere, sluggish domestic economies saw the price of rooms in Ho Chi Minh City fall 8 per cent to an average 91 US dollars while Hanoi was down 5 per cent to 87 US dollars and Manila was down 10 per cent to 90 US dollars.

The two cities to buck the trend were Hong Kong, where prices rose 7 per cent to an average 195 US dollars per room per night amid low supply, and Singapore, where prices climbed 4 per cent to 226 US dollars.

Prices also rose in Australia and New Zealand, buoyed by stronger economies and the Rugby World Cup.

Sydney and Melbourne saw price rises of 8 and 9 per cent, respectively, to 189 US dollars and 165 US dollars while in Auckland, host city for the Rugby World Cup Final, prices rose 12 per cent to 124 US dollars.

Christchurch prices jumped 22 per cent to 123 US dollars on lack of supply after the February 2011 earthquake.

The Hotels.com survey was based upon bookings at 142,000 hotels in destinations worldwide.

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