Hotel rates in Dubai fell by up to 26% in the first 6 months of 2009 for visitors paying in US dollars, while Abu Dhabi hotels saw declines of 9%, according to the latest Hotels.com hotels price index (HPI).

Globally, hotel rates fell by an average of 17% in the first half of the year, compared to the same period in 2008. As a result of the changes in prices, fewer British and Russian travellers visited Dubai in the first half of 2009 and more visitors from the US and Italy took their place. Hotel prices in June were more than one sixth lower than they were the year before and room rates were just 1% above their level in January 2004, when the Hotel Price Index was started.

The Hotels.com HPI tracks the real prices paid per hotel room rather than advertised rates. It is based on prices actually paid by customers for 70,000 properties across 13,000 locations around the world. The latest HPI looks at hotel prices for the period January to June 2009, compared to the same period the year before.