Global Corporate Bookings Increased Following Late Summer Stall, According to Pegasus Solutions’ The Pegasus View
Third Quarter Wraps with GDS Hotel Reservations Up +4.4% Over 2012 in September
Global hotel bookings for business travel increased by +4.4% over last year in September, according to data released today by Pegasus Solutions in The Pegasus View. Following a late summer stall that had bookings for the channel below prior year by -1.5% in August, September's booking values sustained the year-to-date pace of +3.0% over 2012.
Average daily rates (ADR) remained a key contributing factor for business travel revenue driven to hotels from the global distribution systems (GDSs). Globally, they edged past prior year by +0.3% in September, inching to +0.6% year-to-date. The net result was revenue growth of +4.5% over 2012.
"Given the economic uncertainties many regions faced in September, like the looming government shutdown in the US, this data is even more convincing of the travel market's resiliency," said David Millili, chief executive officer of Pegasus Solutions. "There will always be a compelling need for business to be done through in-person connections with prospects, clients and vendors. It's a question not just of efficiency, but of effectiveness."
Leisure demand drove greater global revenue during the summer and through third quarter. July bookings competed against a robust 2012 performance, but rose to meet the challenge in August, inching to +0.6% growth in September. Rates continued to outperform prior year, growing by an average of +4.7% over the summer, and leading to a +2.1% increase in September. The effect on revenue was a +3.0% increase over September 2012, and year-to-date growth of +4.6%.
Looking forward, both the corporate and leisure channels are expected to see booking and rate increases through the end of the year. Bookings as of September 2013 for arrivals from October 2013 to January 2014 show business travel peaking for the fourth quarter in December with +3.5% reservation growth over 2012 thus far. The leisure market will potentially see reservation gains of +5.4% by end of year over prior year, with even more volume leading into 2014.
Data reported by Pegasus Solutions comes from billions of transactions processed monthly for nearly 100,000 hotel clients, facilitating more than $16 billion a year.
The Pegasus View, produced quarterly, is the only industry report to reflect data drawn from both GDS and ADS transactions, representing the business and leisure markets respectively. Pegasus' PegasusView Market Performance business intelligence is a monthly reporting product augmenting the global data provided quarterly in The Pegasus View.
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.
