Honolulu remains one of the least expensive cities of the nation's top 50 travel destinations, at least when it comes to taxes, a new study says.

A report released by the National Business Travel Association Foundation shows Honolulu ranks third in terms of overall travel tax burden behind Portland, Ore., and Detroit.

The study found travelers pay $22.55 a day in Honolulu in general taxes on sales along with hotel room taxes and other taxes for car rentals and meals. That amount compared with $21.45 last year when Honolulu's burden was the lowest of the top 50 cities.

The report, while positive for the state, notes that travel taxes have declined in some cities and that taxes didn't rise much in other cities because hotels and other travel services have been cutting prices because of the economic slump. When the economy turns around, the tax take will increase, it said.

"While the report shows that the travel taxes paid have slightly declined, we know that the fall is due to the weak economy and not tax cuts," said Fay Beauchine, chairman of the foundation.

"In fact, tax rates increased and more were implemented across the United States to make up for government revenue shortfalls during the recession.

"So when the economy recovers, travelers will take a double hit of rising prices and exploding taxes due to tax rate increases enacted during this downturn."

Hawai'i is a prime example of what's happening in the industry, as legislators pushed through a 1 percentage point increase in the hotel room tax that took effect on July 1.

Meanwhile, hoteliers have been slashing prices to attract guests during a historic downturn in the industry. http://www.Hotwire.com, a travel Web site, yesterday released a survey showing the price of a hotel room on O'ahu is down 18 percent compared with August last year.

That was the ninth-biggest price cut among the cities surveyed by the Web site. New York topped the list with a year-over-year decline of 26 percent.

Hawai'i's hotel room tax is scheduled to rise again next July when it goes up to 8.25 percent.