The world’s largest Internet travel agency, Expedia Inc, has declared that hotel rates will continue to decline in 2010, following this years recession which saw the biggest drop in room rates for over five years.

The company claimed that that and over-abundance of hotel rooms that have been built in recent years will continue to depress rates around the world.

New York has seen the biggest impact, becoming the U.S city with the fastest rise in room capacity, based on statistics revealed by Expedia’s hotel arm Hotels.com. New York will see close to 40 new hotels open in 2009, despite occupancy falling by 5%.

While consumer spending in the U.S fell by a minimal 0.2% in the first half of 2009 as unemployment figures rose, unemployment in Europe rose to almost 10% in the past month; the highest level recorded since 1999. Consumer spending on the continent also fell, for the 15th month in succession.

Figures released by Hotels.com revealed a massive drop of 17% on average room rates in the U.S that were booked through the online facility in the first half of 2009 when compared to the similar period last year. This represents the lowest median price level for the organisation since analysis first began in 2004.

The large drop has proven to be something of a windfall for travellers, particularly those who chose to stay in the more upmarket four to five star hotels, with rates falling by up to $100 per night, although the survey does report on all hotel transactions so the statistics may also indicate that customers are choosing to stay at cheaper hotels. Overall however, European booking prices fell by 16%, while Latin American rates dropped by 18%. Dubai also was hard hit by an over-supply of rooms with prices declining by a staggering 23%.

London remains hopeful that the current hotel building boom will be sufficiently met with the approach of the 2012 Olympics, as forecasts suggest hotel room numbers will continue to grow by 16% over the next two years; all of which makes this a perfect time for a hotel getaway.