Distance from the City Centre as a Determinant of Hotel Room Rates

Abstract

A number of recent studies have examined the impact of a hotel's distance from the city centre on room rates. The aim of this paper is to present the findings of research conducted by the authors in 2009 and 2013 in four Polish cities: Cracow, Poznan, Warsaw and Wroclaw. The hotel industry in these metropolises is the most developed in Poland: the greatest number of hotels is located in these cities and they have the largest number of hotel rooms. The authors assess the influence of a hotel's distance from the city centre on the rates charged for hotel rooms in Cracow, Poznan, Warsaw and Wroclaw on selected weekdays and weekends in the summer and autumn of 2009 and 2013. The authors' findings are compared with the results of studies carried out by other researchers for several European and Asian cities. Such a comparison seems to be crucial in view of the international aspect of cities' competitiveness. Therefore, understanding the mechanisms behind the hotel room rates offered in Cracow, Poznan, Warsaw and Wroclaw might be useful in building a global competitive advantage for the analysed cities.