Australians Would Like to Book Hotels by the Hour

CheapHotels.com.au survey results indicate untapped market for hotel owners.

CheapHotels.com.au, one of Australia’s leading online hotel booking sites, today released results of a survey which indicates that the Australian public would like to be able to book hotel rooms “by the hour”. Eighty three percent of people surveyed answered “yes” to the question; would you like to have the option to book hotel rooms by the hour?

Braden Yuill, CEO of CheapHotels.com.au said, “We did a poll on our site as a little fun thing to ask consumers. We were very surprised by the results. This is a product that is currently not available in the Australian hotel marketplace. Maybe, Australian hotels are missing out on some amazing revenues not offering hourly bookings.”

Consumers in Japan have long been able to book hotels by the hour. According to the BBC there are over 25,000 hourly hotels in Japan. These hotels generate a staggering 500 million visits a year, which equates to over US$40 billion a year.
Occupancy rates in hourly hotels can be as high as 400% as rooms are turned over 4 times in a 24 hour period.

“While many people immediately think of ‘hourly hotels’ as seedy, the typical Japanese hotel is top quality, offering Karaoke and flat screen TV’s.” Yuill added, “ We think there is a market here in Australia for hourly hotels. For example, most overseas flights from Europe and the US arrive here in the early hours of the morning. Many business travelers could benefit from being able to book a room to shower and rest up before their meetings.”

In Japan, the hourly hotels are known as ‘love hotels’ for propensity to attract lovers looking for some privacy. Yuill commented, “In any event, if lovers need a place to go for a few hours, it is still an untapped market here in Australia. We are not sure Australia is ready for this, but our consumers seem to think it would be a fun idea.”


BBC article “Love Beats the Recession in Japan” http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8137746.stm

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