The rise in Singapore's hotel room rates is the fifth steepest in the world, a global survey has shown.

The average room rate in Singapore hotels has gone up by 12 per cent - to £105.86 (S$327.01) - in the past six month, according to a mid-year survey by the Hogg Robinson Group (HRG).

Mumbai has the highest increase in rate - up by 30 per cent - with hotels charging an average of £147.55 per night. This is followed by Barcelona (18 per cent to £126.40), Berlin (17 per cent to £83.05) and Aberdeen (12 per cent to £119.75).

HRG attributes the rising rates to a "limited supply of hotels with rooms in the upper end of the market to meet the demand from the expansion in the Banking, Finance and IT sectors."

"With India's 'open skies' policy and an expansion in capacity at Mumbai's International Airport, the city has been exposed to increased traffic into the region," said the report.

Other cities with fast rising hotel room rates are Barcelona, Berlin, Aberdeen, Stockholm , Munich, Glasgow, Houston and Dubai.

HRG survey, carried out in UK, is based on a combination of industry figures, actual room nights booked and rates paid by its UK clients during January to June 2007.

Ms Margaret Bowler, Director Global Hotel Relations, HRG, said: "The figures show average room rates are generally performing well and the global hotel industry has once again experienced healthy growth in the first six months of 2007.

"Europe has seen strong increases, and rates in the Middle East and Asia have also risen. As these two particular markets have yet to reach full maturity, we expect to see the trends continue over the foreseeable future"

For the second year running, Moscow remains the city with the highest room rates of £236.06 - a 7 per cent jump compared to the same period in 2006.

Although Hong Kong saw a fall in average room rates, it retains its eighth position among the top ten most expensive cities, with a rate of £153.86.

Paris slips one position from its 2006 ranking to take fourth place, with rates continuing to grow by 5 per cent, while London falls from the sixth to the ninth spot despite posting a steady 5 per cent increase.

New York City, Dubai, Bangalore, Milan, Stockholm and Rome round up the top ten list of most expensive cities worldwide.

With hotel room rates set to head north, Ms Bowler advises travellers to book in advance, if they want to secure the best rates.

"Last minute bookers are increasingly suffering from inflated rates in the most popular locations, and clients need to ensure that they have negotiated last room availability in their corporate rates to avoid this," she noted.

Room rates will rise further in Singapore

Industry players expect no let-up in Singapore's hotel room rate. A report released by investment bank Merrill Lynch in June predicts that by 2015, rates will inflate to an average of S$600, driven by a room shortage.

Merrill Lynch attributes the increasingly strong demand for rooms to the burgeoning rise in visitor arrivals.

"We expect Singapore to attract 17.7 million visitors by 2015, an increase of 7.0 per cent per year between 2007 and 2015," said the Merrill Lynch report.

"The main contributors will be from the leisure visitors, new visitors attracted by the integrated resorts, and growth of the business and meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions (BTMICE) segments."