UK travellers paid an average of £97 a night on foreign hotel accommodation in the first six months of the year – the second highest amount in the EU, according to the latest Hotels.com Hotel Price Index™ (HPI®).

The figure - £15 more than what they paid for hotel accommodation at home – came as the Pound fluctuated against currencies in popular destinations such as the Euro.

Britons spent more than most EU members on rooms abroad including the Austrians (£96), the Irish (£94), the Danes (£92), the Spanish (£91), the French (£89) and the Dutch, Germans and Finns (£88), Only the Swedes spent more on £99.

UK travellers were the ninth highest spenders on foreign hotels overall in the survey of 24 countries to the year up to the end of June. The Japanese were top (£111), just £2 more than the Swiss (£109) and £5 more than the Americans (£106). At the other end of the scale, Mexicans were the savviest when outside their borders, parting with just £73 a night, according to the report.

Alison Couper from Hotels.com, said: “Despite the incredibly tough year and at a time of shrinking household budgets, Britons have been one of the biggest spenders on hotels in Europe.

“Obviously, currency volatility and the relative strength of the Pound have influenced room rates but it would also seem that UK travellers were still prepared to splash out on their accommodation when they headed overseas. For example, the average room rate in New York went up 6% to £160 but the city was still the most visited international destination for British visitors.

“However, what the research also reveals is the rising wealth of citizens from the BRIC countries with Brazilians also paying £97 a night on their travels, the Russians on £101, the Indians on £91 and the Chinese on £99 on average. Clearly, as those emerging economies expand, those nationalities are going to be able to buy goods and services at a rate which they could only have dreamt of a generation ago.”

UK travellers paid an average £82 a night on domestic hotels – well behind the top spenders Switzerland (£136) and Norway (£119). Travellers from India spent the least on rooms within their borders - £58.

The Hotels.com HPI tracks the real prices paid per hotel room (rather than advertised rates) for 125,000 properties across more than 19,000 locations around the world.  The latest HPI looks at prices in the firsthalf of 2011 compared to those in the first half of 2010.