Corporate online hotel booking agency Hotelzon’s latest data research has found a growing popularity of five-star hotels with business travellers, resulting in a 2.4 per cent increase in average corporate room rates year on year.
The statistics, collated between 1 April and 30 June 2012, solely represent transacted room nights by Hotelzon’s global corporate and agency travellers. With nearly a quarter of a million transactions made in Q2 of 2012, Hotelzon says its report gives one of the most comprehensive state of the industry insights.
The research highlights how business travellers are making the most of discounted rooms, with a marked 16 per cent increase in the use of luxury properties. Conversely, bookings with three-star hotels are down 38 per cent year on year. The agency says this data underlines how corporate travellers are making the most of discounts and special offers.
Other findings:
- Across the board, room rates have increased by 2.4 per cent year on year with average transient accommodation rate per night now €125.13.
- Lead in times for bookings have increased slightly, accommodation is now being confirmed 14.43 days prior to arrival, and reflect corporate bookers making the most of deals on high value hotels.
- Looking forward, Q3 traditionally sees a softening of rates, and in line with Hotelzon predictions, rates in 2012 are set to decrease by 1.9 per cent to €122.79.
- London properties maintained market share during the Olympic period, however transient rates increased by nine per cent 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 per cent to €83.28*.
“It is clear that corporate travellers are upgrading to better quality products while still paying largely the same as they were in previous years,” says CEO of Hotelzon, Jani Kaskinen. “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 five-star properties over the coming months.”
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