最奢侈的旅游城市

火奴魯魯

For the first time in recent memory, the average price of a hotel room in New York City is less than $200 a night. Prices are also down in Honolulu, Hawaii, a destination for the kind of lengthy vacations that mainlanders are cutting back on these days.

　　在近來的印象中，紐約賓館的平均房價第一次低于200美元每晚。同樣的事情也發(fā)生在長途類旅行的目的地之一——夏威夷，火奴魯魯。那里的美國游客近些日來逐漸減少。

 Across the U.S., the most expensive cities to travel to are also where prices are dropping the most. Where prices are highest, there's more room to drop. And deals have been the order of the day in 2009 as hotel chains battled a rough economy and falling occupancy rates.
　　美國范圍內(nèi)，那些旅游花銷最大的城市降幅最大。價格越高，下調(diào)越大。導(dǎo)致這種變化是因?yàn)樵?009年連鎖飯店經(jīng)歷了惡劣的經(jīng)濟(jì)環(huán)境以及慘淡的入住率。

Hotels are a lot like houses or airplane seats. Build too many of them during flush times, and you're left with too much capacity. As demand falls off during a recession, prices drop. 
　　飯店和房屋或飛機(jī)座位很像。一次性建造了很多，收獲了一種成就感。但隨著經(jīng)濟(jì)衰退帶來的需求下降，價格也就只能隨之下降了。

華盛頓

The hospitality industry built nearly 400,000 new rooms in the U.S. between 2004 and 2009, according to data from Smith Travel Research, a 9 percent bump over five years. Meanwhile, average occupancy rates dropped to 55 percent last year from 60 percent in 2008.

　　2004年到2009年，美國酒店業(yè)新建了將近400，000個新房間。據(jù)史密斯旅游研究資料顯示，這期間9%的酒店發(fā)展并不順利。與此同時，2008到2009年，酒店入住率也從60%下滑到了55%。

       Falling prices have come mostly from the penthouse or other swanky spots.

　　價格下調(diào)主要來自屋頂閣樓和黃金地段。

      "You've got five-star rates getting lowered to compete with the three-and-a-half-star rates," says Scott Booker, a vice president at Hotels.com, an online booking service that provides rooms at 94,000 hotel properties worldwide.

　　酒店網(wǎng)絡(luò)預(yù)定網(wǎng)站Hotels.com副總裁Scott Booker說：“為了讓五星級飯店和三星半的飯店競爭，你就得把價格降下來。”他的網(wǎng)站提供全球94000個酒店的預(yù)定服務(wù)。

   According to Hotels.com's figures, prices paid by travelers for hotel rooms during the latter half of 2009 averaged 12 percent less than they did during the same period a year earlier.

　　根據(jù)Hotels.com提供的數(shù)據(jù)，對游客來說，2009年酒店住宿費(fèi)用比上一年減少了12%。

波士頓

"We haven't seen these kinds of prices since 2003," says Booker, who adds that specials for goodies like free extra nights for three-day bookings have been more rampant than ever during the past year.

　　“2003之后我就沒見過這個價格了” Booker說，另外像預(yù)定三天獲贈一天這種特殊饋贈越來越普遍。

      The good news for the industry is that price declines are at least showing signs of leveling off. The same comparison six months earlier (for the first half of 2009 vs. 2008) showed a 16 percent spread, meaning year-over-year price changes are narrowing. Consumers should see the recent trend as a warning that the window they've enjoyed for good hotel deals is beginning to close. As businesses begin easing up their travel restrictions, hotel chains won't be resorting to as many special deals to lure guests.

　　對酒店業(yè)來說的一個利好消息就是價格的降幅至少已經(jīng)趨于平緩。比較08、09兩年上半年能看出16%的變動，這意味著每一年價格的變化都在逐漸變小。消費(fèi)者應(yīng)該注意到一個趨勢，同時也是警告，那就是能令他們他們超值享受酒店的收益良多的窗戶已經(jīng)逐漸關(guān)閉了。隨著整個酒店商業(yè)的解凍，酒店們將不會再用驚喜價去吸引顧客。

紐約

       While prices have fallen across the board, even in the high-priced markets, the traditionally expensive cities have retained their perches relative to others. The average room rate in New York City fell to $199 in late 2009 from $262 a year earlier. But the Big Apple still reigns as the most expensive city in which to get a room for the night. It's followed by other historically expensive destinations whose prices have eased off of late: Honolulu ($160; down 12 percent), Boston ($158; down 18 percent), Washington, D.C. ($144; down 11 percent) and Miami ($140; down 14 percent).
　　當(dāng)整個行業(yè)價格下調(diào)的時候，即使是高端市場，傳統(tǒng)高消費(fèi)城市也始終保持著相對其他城市的優(yōu)勢地位。從2008年到2009年后期，紐約市平均房間價格從262$下降到199$。但“大蘋果”仍然統(tǒng)治著夜晚房價的最奢侈城市稱號。緊隨其后的是那些長久以來高消費(fèi)的剛剛走出困境的城市：火奴魯魯（160$,下降12%）、華盛頓（144$下降11%）、邁阿密（140$下降14%）。    

The bulk of the most expensive cities have one thing in common: they're coastal locations amid dense populations. That means they're drawing from big pools of weekend travelers opting for a quick road trip getaway in lieu of getting on a plane.
　　大部分的高消費(fèi)城市具有一個共同點(diǎn)：他們所在一個沿海城市，人口眾多。這意味著他們從周末旅游的大潮中獲益，人們大都選擇短途的旅行而不是坐上飛機(jī)。　

     Booker sees prices trending back up in 2010, though not in any mad rush. "We've still got unemployment close to 10 percent," he says. "It will be slow going for most of the year." Still, it'll be a long time before the deals out there are better than they are right now.　

　　Booker注意到了2010年價格回升的趨勢，盡管很緩慢。“仍有10%的失業(yè)人口”他說，“但形勢會緩慢好轉(zhuǎn)” 確實(shí)，走出困境仍然需要很長的時間。