DESPITE the shorter month of February, global hotel bookings and rates surpassed those of the same month last year, with year-to-date bookings for both leisure and corporate exceeding levels recorded in previous years through 2007, pre-downturn.
Data from Pegasus Solutions indicates that global leisure bookings for February rose 1.4 per cent year-on-year, while year-to-date bookings grew 4.5 per cent over 2012 and surpassed every year since 2007 by 20 per cent or more.
Globally, leisure rates in February increased 1.9 per cent over 2012, while the average daily rate for the month was 0.2 per cent above the previous year’s, despite there being no increase since last May.
International corporate bookings for February 2013 were almost on a par with last year’s February, falling short by negative 0.3 per cent. Rates rose by 2.5 per cent, above January’s 2.1 per cent and year-to-date growth rates of 2.3 per cent.
In North America, bookings fell 1.5 per cent from 2012 though rates inched up 2.1 per cent.
Outside North America, the number of bookings for February were 1.2 per cent higher year-on-year. At the same time, rates climbed 2.2 per cent, an increase over the prior year not matched since September 2011.
Pegasus Solutions draws its data from billions of transactions processed monthly for nearly 100,000 hotels.
