Hotel prices getting cheaper in Aviemore
Aviemore has seen the steepest fall in the average room rate over the past year in the UK according to latest figures released by Hotels.com Hotel Price Index.
The price per night last year was down 13% to £83, just £1 above the average UK rate of £82.
St Andrews was the most expensive place for hotels in the UK last year with the average room rate at £143 a night as Royal Wedding fever attracted visitors to the university city.
The Fife destination, where Prince William met Kate Middleton, saw a 12% fall from £162 in 2010 as hoteliers readjusted their rates following the British Open golf championship.
However, it was still £11 more expensive than the average price in the Cotswolds village of Broadway, the dearest place in England.
The index, now in its 8th year, chronicles the actual prices paid by travellers in more than 142,000 hotels across the world.
Elsewhere in Scotland, there was a mixed picture. The average room rate in Edinburgh fell 4% to £96 but Glasgow saw a 1% rise to £71, Dundee was up 6% to £73, Perth up 5% to £71 and Aberdeen up 2% to £79.
Edinburgh continued as the second most popular UK destination for overseas visitors behind London and the third most popular for domestic travellers behind London and Manchester.
Glasgow retained its place in fifth for both overseas and domestic visitors.
Matt Walls, Vice President at Hotels.com, said: "Scotland remained a popular tourist destination in 2011, both for UK travellers and those from overseas, especially from North America, who found their spending power boosted by the fluctuating fortunes of the Pound.
"Staycations were a big factor as domestic travellers looked for value closer to home with spending from these visitors rising 16% year-on-year for the first 10 months of the year to £2.5 billion - showing how important tourism is to the wider Scottish economy."
In the rest of the UK, the largest percentage price increase came in Prime Minister David Cameron’s constituency in Witney, Oxfordshire, up 31% to £83 on average.
There was heightened interest in the Cotswolds generally, in part generated by celebrity residents such as Kate Moss and Jeremy Clarkson and the filming of hit ITV series "Downton Abbey".
Other Cotswolds destinations also experienced double-digit percentage increases including Broadway, the most expensive place in England after a 21% rise to £132, Chipping Norton was up 16% to £91 and Cheltenham was up 12% to £82.
The average room rate in London rose by only 1% to £115.
The city’s hotels were fully booked for events such as the Chelsea Flower Show and Wimbledon tennis tournament, but there was still availability on the weekend of the Royal Wedding in April 2011 with many sightseers making day trips or basing themselves in less expensive locations outside London and then travelling in. This trend led to steep percentage rises in towns and cities near the capital.
Watford jumped 22% to £77, the second-highest rise in the UK, High Wycombe was up 19% to £67 and St Albans was up 10% to £70.
However, the average price for a London hotel during the Olympics has already climbed year-on-year by 103% to £210, according to Hotels.com research.
]But there are still good deals and availability on offer in greater London with room rates starting at around £50.
