Total hotel reservations booked in June through global
distribution systems declined 10.6 percent worldwide year over year and by 13.9
percent in North America, according to Pegasus Solutions.
"This largely reflects a change in how travel is
utilized, i.e. which or what type of meetings are had and attended during which
times of the year, not necessarily a cutback in total travel itself or travel
budgets," according to Pegasus. "Globally, it appears trip lengths
are leveling off and not continuing to shrink, indicative of firm demand and
more stable travel budgets."
Average rates paid for hotels through the GDSs also continued
to rise, up 3 percent globally year over year and by 6 percent in North
America. Outside of North America, however, the average rate was down by 1.7
percent as June GDS bookings fell 5.9 percent.
Pegasus projects that softer GDS bookings will continue
throughout the summer but might begin to pick up in the autumn. Rates,
meanwhile, will continue to increase through the third quarter, the company
noted.