In order to understand how the situation has evolved since the crisis began, we decided to look into the cost of accomodation around the world, whilst taking into account travel restrictions from August 2020. With this in mind, please note that travel restrictions may have changed since this data was published. Please check the local health authority before you plan your journey.

We began the study by compiling a list of some of the most popular holiday destinations around the world and selecting 75 cities. Next, we searched the prices of available properties in each of these locations, to determine the average median price for accommodation. We then calculated how far the price deviated above or below from the median among the cities in the study.

To provide further details for travellers considering a future holiday in these destinations, we broke down the calculations by finding the median price per night for a three, four or five star hotel, as well as a vacation home. Since extra features are often a booking incentive, we also included the price of hotels in each city that offered complimentary breakfast or a swimming pool, as well as their average star rating.

Once we had compiled all this data on the current situation, we thought it would also be interesting to see whether prices had changed significantly from before and during the pandemic. Using accommodation data from the same period in 2019, we were able to calculate the percentage difference between the mid-point of these prices for each city, discovering that with the exception of a few locations, the mid-point price for a night stay went down substantially between the two years, even though cleaning schedules and room limitations would have increased.

“Travel itself will be cheap in 2021″, says Dr. Ingo Burmester, CEO DER Touristik Central Europe. 80 percent of the price for package tours is determined by the cost of flights and hotels. Especially in destinations that are not in great demand, costs should fall. „We will pass this on to our customers. We also stand in solidarity with all our partners in the travel industry in trying to make 2021 a year of recovery for everyone. Although it has been a challenging period, we have seen a great deal of interest in domestic travel. We also predict a major catch-up effect for Mediterranean destinations, European trips and long-haul routes in 2021 as soon as travel restrictions are lifted.”

Instructions for journalists
The results can be found below sorted by the cities with the most to least difference in average median accommodation price. The header of each column can be clicked so that the data in that column filters highest to lowest and vice-versa. The full methodology explaining how each factor was calculated can be found at the bottom of the page.

Top 5 cities with the largest price drop 2019 – 2020

  • 1: AMSTERDAM
    NETHERLANDS
  • 2: SAN FRANCISCO
    USA
  • 3: VANCOUVER
    CANADA
  • 4: BANGKOK
    THAILAND
  • 5: PHUKET
    THAILAND

  • 2020 Average (Median) Hotel Prices

    • Average Median Hotel Price
    • Deviation from Median (%)
    • 3*
    • 4*
    • 5*
    • Hotel with Breakfast
    • Hotel with Pool
    • Median Price
    • Vacation Homes
    • 2019 – 2020 %
      Price Difference
2020 Average (Median) Hotel Prices
#
City
Country
1 Zurich Switzerland 210 99.6 169 186 477 234 n/a 149 -10
2 Los Angeles USA 202 91.6 142 210 425 202 231 187 -19.4
3 New York USA 197 86.5 127 168 472 228 360 170 -31.3
4 Geneva Switzerland 178 69.1 132 164 365 224 n/a 139 -12.4
5 Venice Italy 178 68.9 135 189 431 190 n/a 108 -16.1
6 Paris France 167 58.4 128 181 417 200 373 114 -11.9
7 Mykonos Greece 165 56.3 77 149 329 206 188 288 -18.5
8 San Francisco USA 165 56.1 146 169 288 195 n/a 177 -39.2
9 Honolulu USA 157 49.1 139 201 237 n/a 157 135 -18.4
10 Konstanz Germany 157 48.8 145 173 257 176 212 103 0.8
11 Dubrovnik Croatia 153 45.1 92 116 219 153 153 76 -17.8
12 Tel Aviv Israel 150 42.2 110 189 272 231 n/a 177 -13.4
13 Toronto Canada 149 41.5 93 139 343 153 165 124 -23.1
14 Santorini Greece 146 38.6 71 155 353 199 164 184 -17.7
15 Las Vegas USA 141 34.1 103 182 400 112 139 162 -20.6
16 London UK 135 28 82 121 276 172 232 161 -25.2
17 Baden Baden Germany 134 27.3 113 144 247 149 152 111 1.6
18 Rome Italy 134 27.1 99 140 371 149 131 90 -25.5
19 Amsterdam Netherlands 132 25.3 107 137 254 152 260 156 -51.6
20 Vancouver Canada 129 22.8 101 135 192 133 144 106 -37.1

Methodology

The DERTOUR Accommodation Price Index shows the median price of hotels and vacation homes in 75 cities globally. Cities were based largely on top city destinations but particularly those in markets in which Dertour operate.

The data is broken down into four categories, some with additional factors:

  • Average Median Price of 3* to 5* Hotels
  • Deviation from Median (%)
  • Median Hotel Prices
    • 3*
    • 4*
    • 5*
  • Median Hotel Prices With Added Extras
    • Plus Breakfast
    • Plus Pool
  • Average Price of Vacation Home
  • 2019 to 2020 Price Difference (%)

Prices reflect the median price point as encountered when using online hotel booking search engines. All prices were collected early August for stays at the end of September. Only cities with at least 25 available hotels during the data collection period were selected for inclusion in the table.

Details about how the data for each section is calculated as described below.

Average Median Costs for 3*,4*,5* Star Hotel

Each datapoint displays the median price of a hotel room for two adults booking over the period 24th-27th September, 2020.

Research was conducted between 3rd-15th of August 2020.

The median nightly price for each search was recorded for each city, and averaged across search engines.

The average median price of hotel rooms was recorded separately for 3-star, 4-star and 5-star hotels.

Sources: Multiple online search engines

Average Median Price of 3* to 5* Hotels

The average of the median prices for 3*, 4* and 5* hotels collected as described above; weighted according to number of available listings for each hotel rating.

Deviation from Median (%)

The percentage difference between the Median Hotel Price of the city and the Dataset Median Price. In our dataset, Münich, Germany represents the Dataset Median Price with a median hotel price of €105; Zürich, Switzerland has a median hotel price twice that at €210, shown as a 100% deviation from the Dataset Median Price.

Percentage deviation from median was calculated as follows:

Vacation Home prices

Each datapoint displays the average price of Vacation Homes for two adults as available through the period 24th-27th September, 2020.

Research was conducted between 3rd-15th of August.

The average nightly price for each search was recorded for each city, and averaged across search engines.

Searches were made for whole apartments with a maximum distance of 2 km from the city centre.

Sources: Multiple vacation home booking websites

Average Costs With Breakfast/Pool

Each datapoint displays the median price of a 3*, 4* or 5* rated hotel room for two adults limited either to only hotels with a swimming pool, or hotels that offer free breakfast; booking over the period 24-27th September, 2020.

Research was conducted between the 3rd-15th of August 2020.

The median nightly price for each search was recorded for each city, and averaged across search engines.

Note that the difference in price between standard hotel prices and those with added extras is due to multiple factors, including the difference in composition of available 3*, 4* and 5 rated hotels. The prices presented were collected with the intention of comparing across cities only, and are not suitable for comparison within cities. Further information is available on request.

Sources: Multiple online search engines

2019 – 2020 Price Difference (%)

Each datapoint displays the Average Percentage Difference between the median price of 3*, 4* and 5* rated hotels booking over the period 24th-27th September, 2019 compared to those available using the same search over the period 26-29th September, 2019.

Research was conducted between 3rd-15th of August 2020 and 29th July – 10 August 2019, respectively.

Sources: Multiple online search engines