As
first quarter volumes in the business and leisure sectors climbed
past 2012 levels, rates also delivered, rising +1.7% in the corporate
market and +1.4% for leisure.
Leisure
travel bookings grew over prior year in general, helped by an early
Easter holiday, and despite a shorter February. March volumes
increased +5.9% over last year globally as rates grew +0.5% for the
month. Length of stay and booking lead times were either on par with
or gaining on prior year worldwide, indicating a promising consumer
trend towards more international and long-haul travel.
“The
stabilizing or improved performance evident in leisure market
indicators suggests hotels should emerge from daily survival mode to
actually focus on the future,” said David Millili, chief executive
officer of Pegasus Solutions. “When volume grows with rates, it
means hotels aren’t pandering to win bookings by discounting.
Instead, they are implementing and maintaining solid rate strategies
with an eye to the future, making sure they are both available and
bookable to seize a portion of growing demand.”
Corporate
travelers booked +2.4% more reservations globally during the first
quarter of 2013 than last year, staying within -0.3% of prior year in
March. Rates for the channel also sustained, increasing by +1.7% for
the quarter, and still growing slightly in March by +0.6%. Again,
average length of stay and reservation lead times exhibited marginal
increases overall, which have held steady year-to-date.
Data
reported by Pegasus Solutions comes from billions of transactions
processed monthly for nearly 100,000 hotels, facilitating more than
$16 billion a year. The Pegasus View, produced quarterly, is the only
industry report to reflect data drawn from both GDS and ADS
transactions, representing the business and leisure markets
respectively. Pegasus’ recently introduced PegasusView Market
Performance business intelligence is a monthly reporting product
augmenting the global data provided quarterly in The Pegasus View.
