| Hotels Slash Price Worldwide |
 Hoteliers across the world have had to slash their room rates to attract customers in the past year as the global recession takes its toll on the travel industry, a new report shows."We were expecting 2009 to be a year of dramatic price reductions across the world, and so far it has been," Hotels.com president David Roche said, releasing the latest index on Tuesday The biggest slump in room rates was in Moscow, dropping by a hefty 52 per cent, while at the other end of the scale, rates on the Italian island of Capri rose 12 per cent. Rates in Auckland have tumbled 40 per cent, while in Singapore they have fallen by 35 per cent and New York by 30 per cent. Still, the flip side to these massive cuts is that the Australasian region has again become attractive to international visitors. "Long-haul inbound travellers will see lower hotel rates helping to offset the perceived expense of getting there," Hotel.com Asia Pacific managing director Johan Svanstrom said. AAP |