Updated 9.24am
THE IRISH HOTELS Federation has accused Hotels.com of a “cheap publicity shot”.
The website yesterday published a survey that claimed that average prices for rooms booked on their site had risen in the last six months.
The IHF, however, says that those numbers are wrong and based on too small a sample size.
“The figures used for the Hotels.com survey are based on a very limited share of Irish hotels online sales and the sample size is only reflective of accommodation available on the Hotels.com website.
“It is too small to be representative of the 60,000 hotel and guesthouse rooms available for sale every day in Ireland,” said an IHF statement.
Hotels.com hit back in a statement to TheJournal.ie this morning saying that its Hotel Price Index (HPI) is “100 per cent reliable and we have every confidence in it”.
“The HPI is a trend analysis showing the actual prices paid per room night by Hotels.com customers in hotels (chain and independent) as well as in options such as self-catering and bed and breakfast properties,” it said in a statement.
Hotels.com insisted it was not claiming that Irish hoteliers have increased their procies but was examining what prices had actually been paid by consumers.
“They paid slightly more, which should be good news for the hotel industry and shows signs of recovery and greater demand,” the statement added.
But the federation’s Michael Vaughan said that the Hotels.com survey was “irresponsible”.
It is irresponsible and misleading for Hotels.com to give the impression that hotel prices have risen when this is clearly not the case as borne out by the most recent CSO figures which show prices have in fact decreased.
“The fact that prices on Hotels.com are higher is in no way reflective of the excellent value that is available in the market. This is nothing other than a cheap shot at publicity on the back of hotels that are doing their best to get their industry back on an even keel.”
First published 7.45am
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