Leisure Travel Look-to-Book Ratios Jump +56% Over 2009
After More Moderate July and August Ratios
SCOTTSDALE, DALLAS and LONDON (October 26, 2010) – September 2010 increases in corporate travel length of stay and booking lead times evidence greater spending per business trip as well as overall growth in confidence for the sector. This increasing corporate confidence is further supported by overall average daily rate (ADR) repeating the record growth rate of +7.4% reached in August globally, and setting a new record high growth rate of +9.7% outside North America. Additionally, according to data drawn from billions of transactions processed by Pegasus Solutions and reported in the September 2010 The Pegasus View, leisure travel look-to-book ratios in total jumped +56% over 2009.
Global reservations in September through the mostly corporate global distribution systems (GDS) sustained the robust growth rate seen in recent months with an increase of +25.2% over 2009, which, coupled with the +7.4% gain in ADR, led to an increase in revenue for the month of +38.8%.
“The story of the business travel recovery continues, but this time, it features the added benefits of expanded length of stay and booking lead times,” said Mike Kistner, chief executive officer of Pegasus Solutions. “Growing length of stay points to a rise in spending, boosting revenue received per business trip for hotels, while increased booking lead times suggest a much more visible level of longer term confidence in making hotel bookings. These positive figures bode well for an industry still in recovery.”
In September, global corporate travel length of stay climbed 3.2% above last year, from 2.14 nights to 2.20 nights, while booking lead times extended from 15.51 to 15.71 days. These figures were stronger outside of North America, with September’s average length of stay rising to 2.24 nights from 2.16 nights, and booking lead times surpassing 16 days.
Leisure travel continued its more moderately paced recovery. The rise in look-to-book ratios in September to +56% over 2009 were just above levels experienced prior to the more moderate increases of +34% and +41% over last year seen in July and August, respectively. They signal that hunting for the best value is still of utmost importance to consumers. While leisure reservations volume increased +8.5% over 2009, ADR climbed only marginally and length of stay remained stunted worldwide. Looking forward, reservations volume for the channel is expected to continue at an average monthly pace of +9.0% through March 2011, still hindered by low rate growth and short length of stay.
The September 2010 The Pegasus View 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 GDS and ADS channels. It is the only industry report to reflect data drawn from both GDS and ADS transactions, representing the business and leisure market respectively.
