Forward ADS bookings through June show positive growth in reservations on the books, while GDS data indicates more conservative outlook for business travel
SCOTTSDALE, DALLAS and LONDON (March 2, 2010) – Pegasus Solutions has issued The Pegasus View for January 2010, the only industry report that draws from both global distribution system (GDS) and alternative distribution system (ADS) booking data. Based on the three billion transactions Pegasus processed during the month for more than 95,000 hotel distribution customers worldwide, January’s The Pegasus View indicates leisure travelers are regaining confidence, while business bookers remain cautious.
Most notably, booking volumes through the ADS, made predominantly by leisure travelers, climbed +13.93% above 2009, +9.13% above 2008, and a staggering +33.83% above 2007 levels. Future booking data in the same channel evidenced positive growth in reservations on the books through June. Contrarily, business bookings showed a depressed level of reservations on the books, with an average decrease of -6.93% versus 2009. While the drop is due, in part, to a more cautious market, the channel has also experienced a drop in lead time, which will likely result in volume increases closer to arrival.
“Leisure travelers have definitely regained confidence – driving the unstoppable growth in the ADS channel to levels that exceed the same period in 2007 by a third. ADS availability requests over 2009 – that’s just one year – jumped more than a third as well,” said Mike Kistner, chief executive officer of Pegasus Solutions. “That’s good news for the travel comparison sites, but again, it raises concerns for the hotels and technology providers fielding the requests.”
The look-to-book ratio, which measures the number of shopping requests made against the number of actual bookings made, climbed nearly +21% over January 2009. Additionally, competitive shopping by savvy leisure travelers resulted in a drop in the channel’s hotel average daily rate (ADR) of -8.34% against 2009, though net revenue climbed +1.74% for the same period.
The Pegasus View for January 2010 is available in its entirety online and by free subscription at www.pegs.com. Data reported in The Pegasus View comes from Pegasus Solutions, the world’s single largest global processor of hotel transactions through the four GDSs (Amadeus, Galileo, Sabre, and Worldspan) and ADSs.