Global Leisure Bookings Jump More Than +9% in October

According to data from Pegasus Solutions, leisure bookings in October 2012 grew 9.2% over 2011 globally, as North America also saw a rise of 9.1%.

Despite the catastrophic impact of Hurricane Sandy on October hotel performance in New York City and Atlantic City, leisure rates still rose by 2.9% worldwide and 4.0% in North America.

Entering the holiday season, consumers seized off-peak values for holiday travel by booking in October, avoiding the premiums of late November and early December. Despite a still sluggish global economy, resilience in the U.S. market and global numbers for October suggest a continued commitment to travel.

“October leisure bookings reached increases over prior year that were nearly as high as those seen this summer,” said David Millili, chief executive officer of Pegasus Solutions. “And, we saw those rises not just in reservations, but also in rates and length of stay. If travel is a bellwether for consumer confidence, then October gave us something to hope for this holiday season.”

Global corporate bookings also rebounded in October, growing by 5.3% over 2011. Reservations had hovered below prior year since April, dipping by as much as 7.9% in September. In North America, bookings increased just 0.8%, which was still positive growth not realized since April. Solid demand allowed corporate rates to stay just ahead of prior year by 0.3%in North America, as globally corporate rates held steady overall, inching within 1.6% of last year in October.

Data reported by Pegasus Solutions <http://www.pegs.com> comes from billions of transactions processed monthly for nearly 100,000 hotels, facilitating more than $16 billion a year. The Pegasus View reflects data drawn from both GDS and ADS transactions.

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