Hike in room rates tipped MELBOURNE hotel room rates could rise by as much as 10 per cent, veteran hotelier David Perry warned yesterday. " (Melbourne) hotels were already enjoying high occupancy rates before the dollar began its slide," said Mr Perry, chief executive of the Windsor Hotel. There were 314,000 more international arrivals in the year to June, and an additional 1.6 million people travelled through Melbourne airport in 2012-13. Mr Perry expected international arrivals to grow on the back of the lower dollar while domestic tourism also improved. "This is going to give hoteliers the confidence to begin increasing room rates reasonably significantly," he said. Rates have been steady for an unusually long period while the sector waited out a softening in corporate travel and pressures resulting from the higher dollar. Mr Perry said most hotels would increase rates by up to 10 per cent within weeks. But Accor chief executive Simon McGrath said Australia's largest hotelier would not increase room rates. "Most of our rates are dynamic . . . on any given day they shift according to demand and supply," he said. The Windsor Hotel's occupancy is running at about 88 per cent, while the average for Melbourne hotels in the first quarter was 83 per cent. Tourism and Transport Forum chief executive Ken Morrison also expected Melbourne hotel rates to rise.