The newly released Hotels.com Hotel Price Index (HPI), covering the first six months of 2011, shows a 3 percent global price increase and continued gradual recovery of the industry despite natural disasters and political upheavals in the first half of the year, and ongoing economic and employment stagnation in the United States.

Rates, however, are still below their pre-recession peak in mid-2007, so there remain some good deals and value for travelers.

“Despite the gradual upward trend in hotel prices compared to recent bargain basement rates, there are still plenty of great deals for consumers,” said Victor Owens, vice president of marketing North America for hotels.com, in a statement. “Sales are popping up constantly, especially last-minute sales on desirable locations. There are plenty of cities that still have reduced average hotel rates. Even popular tourist destinations offer deals during the off-peak season.”

The HPI surveys hotel prices in major city destinations across the world and is based on bookings made on hotels.com, with prices shown as those actually paid by customers (rather than advertised rates) for the period being reviewed. This report compares prices paid in 2010 with prices paid in 2011.

Higher Costs for U.S. Travelers

The weak U.S. dollar means overseas travel is even more costly for Americans, particularly for European destinations, where U.S. travelers paid 11 percent more for hotel rooms in the first half of 2011 than they did in 2010. They also paid a 5 percent increase for rooms in North America, a 4 percent increase in the Caribbean, but just a 1 percent rise in Asia.

In the 10 most expensive international cities, rates rose 22 percent on average, with U.S. travelers paying $350 per night and up for rooms in destinations as diverse as Vieques, Puerto Rico, and Monte Carlo, Monaco. French Polynesia’s Bora Bora topped the list, with daily rates averaging $800.

New York once again is the most expensive city for travelers in the United States, with an average rate of $190.46, up 5 percent from $181.66 in 2010, followed by Honolulu, up 13 percent, Boston and Miami, up 7 percent each, and New Orleans, up 12 percent from 2010.

International Destination Trends

When it comes to where Americans are traveling, little has changed. Europe remains the international spot most frequented by U.S. travelers, with London, Paris and Rome the three most popular destinations. Our neighbors to the north, Toronto and Vancouver, are fourth and fifth, respectively. European cities grabbed 10 more of the top spots, with Madrid, Amsterdam, Dublin, Florence and Venice each moving up in popularity.

The fastest growing cities for U.S. travelers are in Asia, with Beijing, Bangkok and Seoul rising from 12 to 16 spots each, and the first two, along with Hong Kong and Shanghai, ranking in the top 20.

For full HPI results, visit www.hotel-price-index.com.

Image: Hotels.com HPI Survey

Related posts:
Business Travel Costs Near Pre-Recession Levels
Cost of Travel Expected to Rise in 2011

The Time Traveler Tours Story App “Beware Madame La Guillotine: A Revolutionary Tour of Paris” is a new way for to explore the City of Light and learn about its history.

Released just two weeks after the Bastille Day holiday that celebrates the storming of the Bastille during the French Revolution, the new app is geared toward teens and tweens, but can be enjoyed by adults as well.

The tale, narrated by the young murderess Charlotte Corday in the moments before she is to have her head lopped off, takes listeners on a dramatic journey and treasure hunt into the sights and sounds of Paris at the time of the Revolution. Corday explains how and why she stabbed radical propagandist Jean-Paul Marat while leading listeners around central Paris, from the Palais Royal to La Conciergerie on the Ile de la Cite.

The app is the first in what founder Sarah Towle plans to be several guides for Time Traveler Tours. Each StoryApp Tour will focus on one of the world’s great cities and provide a daylong interactive itinerary, narrated by a historical figure whose actions helped shape their times. Along with the tale, users will get access to maps, directions, helpful hints, and a restaurant discount, plus activities, puzzles, scavenger hunts and brain-teasers for kids.

The app is available at the iTunes store in English for $7.99, and in October will be available in French for both iOS and Android. Forthcoming apps feature three more Paris tours.

Photo: Time Travel Tours

Related posts:
GetJar Travel Apps Help Plan Road Trips
Louis Vuitton Launches iPhone Travel App Ample
Apple Tries to Patent Travel, Hotel & Shopping Apps

Camp's Bay, Cape Town

TripAdvisor just released its annual list of the world’s best travel destinations, and neither New York or Paris makes one of the top three spots. Cape Town, South Africa takes the crown for its beaches, views, hiking trails and wildlife, as well as its historical significance: Visitors can tour Robben Island, the prison Nelson Mandela was held in for 27 years.

Sydney, Australia (number 11 last year) is in second place. The site notes the city’s broad appeal to “culture vultures, city slickers and beach bums,” along with its world-class shopping.

Coming in at No. 3 is Machu Picchu, the historic Incan limestone architectural wonder on a high plateau in Peru.

Paris, which did not make it into the top 25 last year, holds the No. 4 spot, while Rio de Janeiro (also new to the top 10) is at five.

The four U.S. cities that made the top 25 are New York City at six, Honolulu at 19, San Francisco at 23 and Las Vegas at 25.

With the exception of Machu Picchu, this year’s list reflects much more of an urban travel trend than last year’s rankings, whose top choices were weighted toward small European cities such as Monte Carlo, Salzburg, Lucerne, Heidelberg and Florence.

See the full list here.

Photo: neiladerney123 aka Neil Howard

Related Posts:
Top Family Vacations for 2011 Announced by TripAdvisor
TripAdvisor Names Its Top 10 Pet-Friendly Hotels for 2010
Vacation Destinations: Best U.S. Beaches

With lawmakers in North America and Europe wading into birth tourism and burqa bans, there are growing chances of a backlash for the travel industry.

14th Amendment

In the US, lawmakers want to hold hearings on Birth Tourism – a concept where expectant mothers travel to the US to give birth. Under the 14th Amendment, this makes the baby a US citizen.

US consulate officials do not reject visas just because the stated purpose of the visit is to have a baby in the US. The thinking is that these parents prefer to have their babies born in the USA because of the superior healthcare facilities available.

If Congress goes ahead with these hearings and legislation, it will impact spending on travel, tourism and healthcare by rich expectant foreign couples, even though the legislation and hearings are aimed only at curbing babies born to illegals.

A Turkish hotel group charges from $7,750 to $15,000 for a 2-month birth tourism package in New York, not inclusive of medical bills and other charges, which can add up up to another $30,000. A similar service provider in China charges $14,750 for a 3-month stay in a baby care center in California, inclusive of all charges.

But it might not really be that big a deal. According to the National Center for Health Statistics, there were 4,273,225 live births in the US in 2006. Out of these, only 7,670 were born to non-resident mothers. This includes not just visitors, but also students.

Meanwhile, in Europe, there’s growing concern over what impact France’s burqa ban will have on tourism. French lawmakers are drafting a Burqa law under which women found wearing a face veil will be fined $198.

The law is meant to target only a small number of French residents who wear the veil. The French Interior Ministry says only around 2000 French women wear the full veil. But same as with birth tourism in the US, this law will end up hurting tourism in France since there’s no real way to distinguish between tourists and residents wearing a veil.

Paris, a favored shopping and vacation destination for around 215,000 high-spending Middle Eastern tourists, is already feeling the blowback with some of these tourists saying they’ll find other destinations next year.