Global Leisure Hotel Rates Set New Growth Record in March

According to data from Pegasus Solutions, ADR paid by leisure hotel guests climbed +9.2% in March over 2011, beating the previous record of +8.3% set in December over 2010.

In North America, hotels benefited from a climb of +8.5% in daily rates for leisure stays, which outperformed the +7.3% record set in February.

Rate gains in the corporate market approximated or surpassed year-to-date growth. Globally, ADR reached +4.5%, overtaking year-to-date growth of +4.0%, and climbed to +6.5% in North America, almost reaching the year-to-date growth of +6.8%. Outside North America, corporate rates increased +1.8% while leisure rates were up +3.9%.

“This month was once again highlighted by remarkable rate performance, especially in the leisure sector,” said Mike Kistner, chief executive officer of Pegasus Solutions <http://www.pegs.com/> . “As bookings fell off the significant surges we saw in 2011, it’s encouraging to see hotels holding to and increasing rates to maximize revenue potential for current and future growth.”

Leisure and corporate bookings decreased from levels realized in March 2011, a month that saw double digit gains in four of the six categories reported in The Pegasus View (global, North America and outside North America for corporate and leisure). Globally, corporate bookings dropped -7.5% relative to a +25% increase a year before, with North America shrinking by -9.0% compared to +20% in 2011. Outside North America, corporate volume fell slightly less by -5.8% compared to growth of +32% in 2011.

For leisure travelers booking vacations, global bookings fell -7.9% from gains of almost 10% in 2011. North America booking volume dropped -9.0% compared to +10% in 2011. Markets outside of North America were more resilient, decreasing only -0.4% over more moderate growth margins in 2011 due to world events like the Japan earthquake and Middle East/North Africa uprisings.

Looking forward, global distribution system (GDS) bookings on the book indicate steady increases in corporate travel and sturdy rate growth. Leisure bookings have the potential to progress beyond prior year in May and June with accompanying rate growth expected.

Data reported in The Pegasus View comes from billions of transactions processed monthly by Pegasus Solutions. It reflects data drawn from both GDS and ADS transactions, representing the business and leisure markets respectively for approximately 90,000 hotels worldwide.

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