European hotels are cutting their room rates by to 50 per cent in a bid attract British travellers.
Hotels are cutting room rates by up to 50 per cent in an attempt to keep Britons travelling during the economic downturn, a leading hotel booking agency has claimed.
Ian Ackland, commercial manager of Hotel Connect, which offers hotels in more than 200 destinations, said concern about a lack of bookings this winter are prompting record discounts.
"Hoteliers have always dropped their rates by five or ten per cent at the start of winter, but only for a couple of weeks. These reductions are at an unprecedented level – we are now seeing cuts of up to 50 per cent for the next two or three months, as hoteliers recognise that this thing [economic downturn] is not going to go away."
He said that hotels in cities such as Paris, Dublin, Amsterdam and Prague were offering the biggest reductions, as the weakness of the pound and the dollar against the euro puts travellers off. Dubai hotels are also cutting rates by a third, he added. The pound has fallen against the UAE dirham by a third since last year.
Last month travel analysts had predicted that hotels would close floors to save money during the financial downturn rather than cut rates, but bookings have slowed since then.
Manny Fontenla-Novoa, chief executive of Thomas Cook, speaking at this week's World Travel Market in London, called on more hoteliers to lower their rates during the economic downturn. He said that, even with a 12 per cent reduction in the number of holidays being offered next year, the current conditions made it imperative that hoteliers give operators the best prices now to guarantee bookings for next summer, rather than wait until March to decide whether to reduce rates.
He added that he expected holidaymakers to continue to switch from traditional packages in Spain to mid-haul destinations such as Egypt and Turkey next year.
The savings are not confined to hotels abroad. Travelodge, the British chain, has cut its average room rates from £50 a night to £29 until the end of this year. A spokesman said that by next spring it will offer hotel rooms in 15 British cities from as little as £9 a night, as part of an aggressive price war against its rivals.
"During the last consumer recession, the budget airlines drove a structural change in the market that did not reverse when good times returned," said Travelodge's managing director, Guy Parsons. "We believe budget hotels will do the same this time around."
Cruise lines have also been offering big reductions on sailings this winter, with cruises being offered for as little as a sixth of the original brochure price.
Meanwhile, British workers who have lost their jobs are being offered solace by a holiday operator which has pledged to give them a 10 per cent discount if they can prove they have been made redundant.
Dragoman, a specialist adventure travel company, says it will offer the discount to anyone who can show a recently issued P45.
Hotel Apsis Splendid 
Bonanova Park Hotel 
