HOTEL RATES SEEN ON THE REBOUND

A global travel technology firm sees hotel rates in the Philippines and the rest of the world getting pricier in the coming months amid the anticipated return of leisure travel, mostly driven by weddings and summer holiday-making.

HotelPlanner CEO and co-founder Tim Hentschel, in an interview with the Inquirer, said that the current hotel rate average of $120 per night—which covers high-end to low-end establishments—could go up to around $135 to $140 with the expected surge in room occupancy.

“Weddings are just exploding right now because there is so much pent-up demand for people who could not get married before because you could not put all your friends and family together. Now, you finally can,” he said.

There was also the matter of revenge spending, with travelers splurging by as much as $500 a night from only $250 to $350 previously in five-star hotels, Hentschel said.

“There are big savings over the last couple of years and now they (leisure travelers) are going out,” he explained.