Hotel room rates in Tokyo, Sydney and Singapore emerged as the most expensive in Asia Pacific between April to June 2015, according to the HRS Q2 2015 Hotel Price Radar. With an average room rate of S$258, Tokyo also showed one of the highest rate increases of 33.30% (year-on-year comparison) in the region.

Majority of the markets studied saw solid double digit growth in room rates during the same period, based on a year-on-year comparison. Seoul was an exception showing slower growth with only a four percent increase in rates, most likely due to the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) situation in Korea in June 2015.

Another exception was Kuala Lumpur, as the only city where hotel room rates declined by nine percent as compared with the second quarter of 2014.

The Hotel Price Radar is based on data collected from hotel bookings made by 40,000 corporate clients via the HRS hotel portal over the second quarter of 2015 and analyses per night room rates in comparison with the same period last year. Average room rates are typically a reflection of the demand or hotel reservation needs in a market or destination during a specific period of time.

Furthermore, according to the Doing Business 2015 project by the World Bank Group, 15 of 25 economies in East Asia and the Pacific have implemented at least one regulatory reform making it easier to do business in the year from June 2013 to June 2014. Similar initiatives have been recorded in the South Asian region, too. This encourages increased business activity and subsequently, travel.

Asia Pacific Average per Night Room Rates

Top APAC Destinations Room Rate per night in Q2 2015 (in SGD)
1 SGD = 0.73 US$
Rate development compared to Q2 2014 in %

Tokyo 258 33.30%
Sydney 252 12.80%
Singapore 250.5 12.10%
Hong Kong 226.5 16.30%
Seoul 190.5 4.10%
Mumbai 153 34.70%
Shanghai 139.5 38.80%
Beijing 136.5 26.40%
New Delhi 131 10.10%
Jakarta 129 38.70%
Bangkok 118.5 46.30%
Kuala Lumpur 102 -9.30%