Hotel rates hit a slump
Mar 15, 2010
The cost of hotel accommodation in Uganda went down between October to December last year, compared to July to September of the same year, a Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS) survey indicates.
By David Mugabe
The cost of hotel accommodation in Uganda went down between October to December last year, compared to July to September of the same year, a Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS) survey indicates.
“Particularly short stay rates saw a decline of 4.3% during that quarter,†said a Producer Price Index for Hotels and Restaurants (PPI-HR) released by UBOS last week. The PPI-HR measures the change in the prices that hotel and restaurant service providers receive for the services they provide.
According to UBOS, the price index is designed to reflect the price trend of a constant well-defined and representative basket of services provided.
The index helps the Government measure inflation in the hotels and restaurants industry.
Accommodation accounted for 44% of the total business of the 100 selected hotels and restaurants that were used as a sample in the new index.
The index focused on only the formal sector, hotels and restaurants with a turnover of at least sh10m per month.
But the survey revealed that the rate of increase in the cost of hotel food on the other hand “showed little sign of slackening during the same period.â€
“Overall prices of drinks rose by 16% in quarter four of 2009 compared to quarter four of 2008,†UBOS said.
The highest increment was in wines and spirits where prices rose by 4.4% in the same period.
UBOS said the accommodation and catering services’ trend could be explained by the lower US dollar exchange rates because major hotels charge in dollars.
The other reason could be the promotional culture by the hotels sector during the festive season where room rates are reduced as an incentive to holiday makers.
The cost of hotel accommodation in Uganda went down between October to December last year, compared to July to September of the same year, a Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS) survey indicates.
“Particularly short stay rates saw a decline of 4.3% during that quarter,†said a Producer Price Index for Hotels and Restaurants (PPI-HR) released by UBOS last week. The PPI-HR measures the change in the prices that hotel and restaurant service providers receive for the services they provide.
According to UBOS, the price index is designed to reflect the price trend of a constant well-defined and representative basket of services provided.
The index helps the Government measure inflation in the hotels and restaurants industry.
Accommodation accounted for 44% of the total business of the 100 selected hotels and restaurants that were used as a sample in the new index.
The index focused on only the formal sector, hotels and restaurants with a turnover of at least sh10m per month.
But the survey revealed that the rate of increase in the cost of hotel food on the other hand “showed little sign of slackening during the same period.â€
“Overall prices of drinks rose by 16% in quarter four of 2009 compared to quarter four of 2008,†UBOS said.
The highest increment was in wines and spirits where prices rose by 4.4% in the same period.
UBOS said the accommodation and catering services’ trend could be explained by the lower US dollar exchange rates because major hotels charge in dollars.
The other reason could be the promotional culture by the hotels sector during the festive season where room rates are reduced as an incentive to holiday makers.