Prices in major business and convention cities, including New York, Chicago, London, Paris and Beijing, has increased year-over-year, indicating that business travel is rebounding, according to hotels.com.

In common with most Western economies, global hotel prices continued their path of unspectacular recovery from the pricing trough reached in 2009. After stripping out currency changes and new hotel openings, the price hotels actually charged customers in the first six months of 2011 rose by just three percent globally, shared David Roche, global president, Hotels.com as the company released the new version of its Hotel Price Index (HPI).

Another BRIC in the wall?

If prices are sluggish in the US and Europe, or falling from external shocks, they are rising rapidly in the world’s economic hotspots.

Brazil, up seven percent, is a case in point, exacerbated by a lack of new hotels in its major cities with rates in Sao Paolo rising 27 percent. In Asia Pacific, destinations from Singapore to Sydney posted double digit price increases.

Last year’s Hotel Price Index found Asian cities to be gaining popularity amongst business travellers, a trend that is continuing. Average prices for hotel rooms throughout Asia fell by eight percent from the first half of 2010 to the first half of 2011, however individual markets in the region increased dramatically. Hotel prices in Singapore increased 18 percent year-over-year, and room rates in Hong Kong jumped 24 percent, from an average of $142 per night in 2010 to $176 in 2011.

Another part of the world that has attracted business travellers in recent years is the Middle East. However, this year’s political and social unrest related to the Arab Spring had a significant negative impact on countries in the Middle East and beyond. Falling prices were seen throughout the region, even in areas not directly involved with the uprising.

Following is a list of global cities popular with business travellers:

(The HPI is based on bookings made on hotels.com and prices shown are those actually paid by customers (rather than advertised rates) for the first half of 2011. The report largely compares prices paid in 2010 with prices paid in 2011).

“We’ve been following what has driven this in the last two HPI reports. Business and convention travel has staged a revival, filling hotels and prompting recovery. Global spending on business travel is projected to grow another 9.2 percent in 2011, according to the GBTA Foundation’s latest report, with all four BRIC countries outpacing the more developed economies,” shared Roche.

He added, “However, as demand has increased, so has supply, which acts as a brake on prices.”

There are still nearly 6,000 new hotel projects in development around the world, adding more than 900,000 hotel rooms.

Another feature of this report is how currency exchange rates have created huge variations in whether prices are rising or falling for your pocket.

“The relative weakness of the US dollar and Pound Sterling is great news for travellers paying in Euros, Australian dollars or Swedish Krona but relatively higher prices in their own countries mean that many visitors will have been deterred,” said Roche. “Thus UK hoteliers can breathe a complacent sigh of relief at the relative weakness of sterling, knowing that their own countrymen are more willing to stay domestically, and that overseas visitors find the UK more affordable.”