2012-09-13 — /travelprnews.com/ — Data released by Hotelzon shows the growing popularity of 5* hotels with business travellers, resulting in a 2.4% increase in average corporate room rates year on year.
The statistics, collated between April 01 and June 30th 2012, solely represent transacted room nights by Hotelzon’s global corporate and agency travellers and give one of the strongest indications of corporate confidence in the business travel sector.
The research highlights how business travellers are making the most of discounted rooms, with a marked 16% increase in use of luxury properties. Conversely, bookings with 3* hotels are down 38% year on year, underlining how corporate travellers are making the most of discounts and special offers.
- Across the board, room rates have increased by 2.4% year on year with average transient accommodation rate per night now 125.13 €.
- Lead in times for bookings have increased slightly, accommodation now being confirmed 14.43 days prior to arrival, and reflect corporate bookers making the most of deals on high value hotels.
- Looking forward, Quarter 3 traditionally sees a softening of rates, and in line with Hotelzon predictions, rates in 2012 are set to decrease by 1.9% to 122.79 €.
The summer of 2012 has been one of the most prolific periods, with the UK taking the global centre stage. Corporate business travel in the capital remained robust:
- London properties maintained market share during the Olympic period, however transient rates increased by 9% to 184.13 €* per room per night. (*between 27.7.12 and 12.8.12)
- Corporate rates were most affected in Birmingham during the Olympic period, with a reduction in average room rates of 18.7% to 83.28 €*, a clear indication that corporate displacement of business from London during the Olympics did not come to fruition.
IT specialist Hotelzon is the provider of the world’s largest hotel inventories. With nearly a quarter of a million transactions made in Quarter 2 of 2012, the reporting gives one of the most comprehensive state of the industry insights.
Jani Kaskinen, CEO of Hotelzon, said, “It is clear that corporate travellers are upgrading to better quality products while still paying largely the same they were in previous years. September’s return to work will give a far better indication of corporate confidence and it will be interesting to see if there is continued migration to 5* properties over the coming months”.
Meetpie.com Corporate travellers return to booking hing-end hotels
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