Budget and blowout destinations
Hotel prices are a good indication of a destination’s general costs and so important when weighing up where to go.
Old habits die hard for the Kiwi traveller, according to the latest travel stats from accommodation website Hotels.com.
Australia remains our favourite holiday destination, perhaps unsurprisingly, given it’s just a short hop across the Tasman Sea. Sydney and Melbourne are also our two top foreign cities to book hotel nights in.
The historically favourable exchange rate between the Aussie and Kiwi dollars has helped keep the average price per hotel night to around $197 in 2017 – around 30 per cent cheaper than a hotel night at the other perennial favourite: Fiji.
The island nation requires an average of $276 per night at a hotel – an increase from $254 in 2016. Obviously you could bunk up in a hostel or book a villa or apartment on Airbnb to lock in savings, but average hotel prices are a good indication of a destination’s general costs and so important when weighing up where to go – too often we’re convinced solely by the promoted airfare sales.
The perma-tanned president failed to deter travellers to the United States as the country continued its ascent in popularity. It’s the second-most common booking destination for travellers finding rooms on Hotels.com and its cities Honolulu and Las Vegas are the third and seventh most popular cites, respectively.
The popularity of the Hawaiian capital will come as no surprise to anyone who’s been following the airfare war on the route between Auckland and Honolulu, with both Air New Zealand and Hawaiian Airlines adding capacity and dropping fares to the ‘‘aloha state’’. Although there will be great variance across the United States, the average room rate remained at around $264 per room, per night so you certainly pay for the privilege of visiting Trump’s America.
So what are the popular destinations and intrepid offerings that gave New Zealand bookers the best bargains for hotel rooms?
The average price paid by Kiwis for a room in Laos last year was $74 and $71 in Cambodia, crowning the latter the best budget destination. Having bedded down in both countries, I can say that $70-odd per night would have you living like royalty and for a pauper’s price of $4 a night, I nabbed a bed and breakfast room in Laotian tourist town Vang Vieng.
The tanking Turkish currency means hotel nights at this stunning country have become cheaper for Kiwis, with room rates falling 20 per cent year-onyear to $84. Serbia and Lithuania can give you a taste of Europe on the cheap, with big falls in their average hotel room rates last year, down to $86 and $89 per night, respectively.
Bargain-hunters’ favourite Thailand remained both popular and cheap, with an average room rate of $102 per night – surely one factor in its ranking as the third-most-popular destination. Again, as with neighbours Myanmar and Laos, these average rates are just that – averages – and you can easily get change from $50 when booking a room. I often witness travellers looking for perceived value rather than the nominal price tag: If you’re comfortable and used to paying $200 for a hotel room in a western city, you may be happier paying near that amount in a country like Thailand or Cambodia but expect more for your money.
At the opposite end of the scale, the data showed Kiwis forking out bigtime for honeymoon favourite the Maldives and the Caribbean cays of the Bahamas. An average room rate on the Indian Ocean atolls set new Zealand travellers back $687 per night in 2017 – but that’s down 11 per cent on the year before.
The balmy Bahamas were somewhat more economical, at $460 per night (although you wouldn’t travel all the way to Nassau for just one night, right?). Closer to home, French Polynesia – Bora Bora and Moorea – were the third most expensive destinations for Kiwi room bookers using the online accommodation service, with an average night’s rest costing $440 a pop. Those will be some expensive lagoon-side Instagram photos!
Most popular countries for New Zealand travellers in 2017
1. Australia; 2. US; 3. Thailand; 4. United Kingdom; 5. Fiji; 6. Indonesia;
7. Japan; 8. Italy; 9. France; 10. Vietnam (source: Hotels.com).