North American Leisure Travel Edges Ahead of Global Market

Oct 27, 11 | 12:05 am

North American leisure travel outpaced global travel bookings in September by 1.4%, according to data released today by Pegasus Solutions in the award-winning The Pegasus View. Overall, the leisure market saw leisure bookings gain momentum worldwide from the +4.2% increase seen in August, evidencing a surge in off-peak travel.

In the midst of the Euro debt crisis, Europe's leisure reservations actually declined slightly by -0.5% compared to September 2010. Globally, average daily rates (ADR) for leisure bookings increased by +3.0% over prior year, with North America jumping +5.0%, ahead of the +3.8% year-to-date pace. Outside North America, ADR stayed ahead of the prior year by +1.5%.

"The leisure market's showing in September evidenced a move towards off-peak travel by consumers," said Mike Kistner, chief executive officer of Pegasus Solutions. "It's not a month we usually would expect to see leisure gains, but efforts to make travel dollars go farther by travelling during the traditional ‘off-season' made bookings jump, especially in North America. Hoteliers for their part resisted deep discounting following the summer peak season, and as a result drove more revenue as leisure bookings poured in at more moderate, off-peak rates."

The corporate market continued to grow over prior year, registering a +6.1% increase in global GDS channel bookings; this was slower than August's uptick of +10.2%, but ahead of July's +5.8% pace. Rates remained positive, rising by +3.5% globally over 2010. Looking forward, corporate bookings and rates are both expected to continue beating prior year figures through the fourth quarter, with the potential for slower booking growth combined with a rate uptick come January.

The Pegasus View reporting on September 2011 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 Solutions

Pegasus Solutions is the world's leading provider of technology and services to hotels and travel distributors, supplying the award-winning RezView® NG central reservation system, electronic distribution services, advanced agency commission processing and payment services, and hotel marketing representation services. Founded in 1989, Pegasus created and launched the hotel switch, and today its customers include approximately 90,000 properties around the globe as well as a majority of the world's travel agencies. Additionally, Pegasus' powerful representation arm incorporates Utell® Hotels & Resorts and Utell Connect, services that have been chosen by more than 6,000 member hotels in more than 130 countries. Pegasus is the hotel industry's most experienced third-party marketing, sales and reservations specialist. It also powers the niche consumer website www.hotelbook.com_^TM, dedicated to promoting independent and boutique hotels throughout the world. The company's widely followed monthly data report The Pegasus View has been awarded a 2011 Stevie Award, and is recognized as the only hospitality report to monitor both actual business and leisure bookings. Pegasus has 21 offices in 12 countries, including Dallas, London, Singapore and Scottsdale, Arizona. For more information, please visit www.pegs.com or www.utell.com.