Distribution Channels Realize Rate Increases as Leap Year Drives Global Booking Volumes
DALLAS (March 26, 2012) – Rates paid for North American hotel rooms in February led to record increases over prior year for both business and leisure bookings, according to the latest data from Pegasus Solutions reported today in The Pegasus View . Corporate rates edged past previous record margins of +7.0% from January 2012 and July 2011 to a new high of +7.1%, while leisure rates rose +7.3%, almost a full percentage point more than June 2011’s previous high of +6.4%.
Bookings, which had fallen off inflated prior-year levels in January, enjoyed a bump from Leap Year as the extra day in the month drove global booking volumes up for both channels. Globally, corporate bookings rose +5.1% over prior year, and would still have risen +0.5% without the extra day. Leisure bookings, which rose +2.5%, would have returned a slight drop of -1.6% without the 29th.
“By the numbers, February was a good month worldwide,” said Mike Kistner chief executive officer of Pegasus Solutions. “No doubt, business and consumer reservation volumes were bolstered by the extra day of bookings, but it wasn’t Leap Year that drove rates up – demand did. And it did so in an utterly convincing manner for both channels, setting records in North America and still rising elsewhere.”
Reservation growth in North America did not match the rate gains for business or leisure travel, but still improved from January. Corporate bookings in the region grew +3.5% over prior year, compared to +7.0% for all other global regions combined, while leisure volumes realized an increase of +1.8%, far shy of the +6.8% gain realized outside of North America.
While North America continues to lead the rate recovery as a region, corporate rates grew +3.7% globally, and increased a slight +0.3% for all other regions in total. Leisure rates outpaced North America globally at +7.6% over 2011, returning gains of +3.6% outside North America.
The Pegasus View reporting on February 2012 bookings is available online and by free subscription at www.pegs.com. Data reported in The Pegasus View comes from billions of transactions processed monthly by Pegasus Solutions, the world’s single largest global processor of hotel transactions. It is the only industry report to reflect data drawn from both GDS and ADS transactions, representing the business and leisure markets respectively for approximately 90,000 hotels worldwide
