Great Hotels of the World reported that first-quarter corporate bookings using its GDS code increased 19 percent year over year

. The average transaction value of those bookings increased by 23 percent. Hotels should enter negotiations for 2012 rateswith "an upper hand in pricing as average daily rate returns to pre-recession levels," said John Clarke, director of sales and marketing for London-based Great Hotels, which provides sales and marketing services to about 250 upper upscale and luxury hotels around the world.