U.S. hotel industry growth will soon shift from
occupancy-driven to rate-driven, according to a forecast issued this month by
PricewaterhouseCoopers' Hospitality & Leisure Practice that projects U.S.
average daily rates to increase by 4.8 percent year over year in 2011. European
hotels, meanwhile, can expect slower growth, according to a forecast issued by
Deloitte. U.S. demand this year has recovered to 2007 levels, PwC said, adding
that room supply would increase by 2 percent this year and by only 0.4 percent
in 2011, giving hotels the opportunity to boost rates. The forecast calls for a
7.4 percent jump in U.S. revenue per available room in 2011, its highest
increase since 2006. Europe's hotel recovery, on the other hand, will continue
on a "muted but upward path" in 2011, according to Deloitte. As of
September, year-to-date RevPAR had increased by 9.5 percent compared with 2009,
but average daily rates were down slightly. Growth has been stronger outside
the Eurozone, with RevPAR up 11.2 percent as of the end of September. Within
the Eurozone, that growth was only 7.6 percent. Cities in Germany, including
Munich, Düsseldorf and Frankfurt, have seen more than 20 percent growth in
RevPAR during that period, however.
European Parliament
Renews PNR Exchange Criticism
The European Parliament this month again called for the
European Commission to "explore less intrusive alternatives" to the
comprehensive collection of airline passenger data by countries outside the
European Union. The United States is one of a handful of countries that gathers
passenger name records and other personal details of all passengers who cross
its borders. The European Union and the United States recently have started
discussions on a general data protection agreement and a new version of their
more specific agreement on sharing passenger flight data. Parliament has the
right to veto both accords, according to a statement it issued this month. The
resolution passed by the European Parliament asked the Commission to provide "factual
evidence that the collection, storage and processing of PNR data is necessary,"
and emphasized that "PNR data shall in no circumstances be used for data
mining or profiling." Last month, the European Data Commissioner expressed
"major concerns as regards the necessity and legitimacy" of PNR
collection schemes by national governments. A separate position adopted by the
Parliament took another swipe at the U.S. Travel Promotion Act, which led to
the imposition from Sept. 8 of a $14 application fee on U.S.-bound visitors for
Electronic System for Travel Authorization, which they must obtain to enter
when using a visa waiver. European officials have complained that the fee is
tantamount to a visa charge, but the latest communiqué from the Parliament also
voiced concerns about matters related to data privacy. It said the fee "can
only be paid with one of the four major credit cards, whose companies are all
based inside the U.S."
AA, JetBlue Begin
Frequent Flyer Reciprocity
American Airlines and JetBlue Airways this month launched
frequent flyer reciprocity "in select markets," after the two
carriers expanded an interline agreement announced in March. Frequent flyer
reciprocity will apply to markets on which the carriers interline, which after
an expansion announced this month will include 26 JetBlue domestic routes and
15 American international routes, up from the 18 JetBlue routes from Boston or
New York that connected with 12 international American destinations available
when the carriers launched the partnership in March. The carriers added to the
interline agreement several JetBlue domestic destinations from Boston,
including Baltimore, Orlando, Pittsburgh, Phoenix and Washington National, and
one new American route, New York JFK-Budapest, which launches next year.
EasyJet Confirms
Plans For Flexible Business Fares
European low-cost carrier EasyJet confirmed this month the
launch of its first-ever flexible fares, available only through business
booking channels, including global distribution systems and self-booking tools.
EasyJet said it would make them available through its website "at a later
date." Flexible-fare passengers can change their flight up to two hours
before departure and rearrange their flights for any time between one week
before and three weeks after the original date of departure. The premium fare
also includes priority boarding—useful because EasyJet passengers are not
assigned specific seats—one free checked bag and a waiver on booking fees.
EasyJet claimed to have a 4 percent share of the European short-haul business
travel market and said it would particularly target corporate business in
France, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.
This report appears in
the Nov. 29 issue of Business Travel News.