Global average daily rates (ADR) for both business and leisure hotel rooms continued to climb in January, according to data released today in The Pegasus View by Pegasus Solutions. Following a record increase over 2010 in December 2011, January 2012 saw business rates grow +3.8% and leisure rates rise +7.0% over January 2011.

Bookings, however, eased off levels from January 2011, a month that realized robust double-digit margins over 2010 for both channels. In January 2012, global corporate bookings dropped -1.6% while leisure bookings fell -5.0%. The only increase was for leisure bookings outside of North America, which increased +3.0%.

"While the data suggests a lull in bookings, rising rates in January were supported by strong demand," said Mike Kistner, chief executive officer of Pegasus Solutions. "Comparison shopping for leisure travel in January 2012 drove the look-to-book ratio to a new high of 4,500 availability and information requests for every one booking made. In the past, this aggressive shopping has resulted in downward pressure on rates, but we saw rate growth instead. At the Americas Lodging Investment Summit in Los Angeles, I described the mood as 'business as usual optimism' – for the first time in a long time, these numbers back that up."

Looking forward, global corporate bookings, those made through the global distribution systems (GDS), show bookings hovering near prior year levels through April, and potentially gaining momentum in May. Opportunity lies in the group and meetings market, where increased activity is helping drive rate growth. Leisure data predicts promise for spring vacation travel as business on the books shows marginal movement from prior year in total through April, again with anticipated pick-up in May.

The Pegasus View reporting on January 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.

About Pegasus

The new Pegasus is a game-changer for hotels, combining innovative technology with five-star support to give hoteliers more control over their revenue and distribution strategy than ever before. Following a recent merger with Travel Tripper, Pegasus now enables hoteliers to better connect with their guests through an innovative and flexible platform of Reservations, E-commerce, Global Sales, and Business Intelligence solutions that help hotels drive demand and increase revenue and profitability.

With more than 30 years of experience in global distribution, Pegasus serves hotels across 120 countries from eight offices worldwide in New York, Scottsdale, Las Vegas, London, Paris, Frankfurt, Tokyo, and Hyderabad. For more information, visit pegs.com or follow them on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter.

Bill Taysom
Pegasus