Hotel rates booked by HRG clients in most regions during the first half of 2010 were flat or "only marginally down"

from a year earlier, with the exception of the Middle East, where rates were down by double-digits in select cities, according to the travel management company. Meanwhile, the average length of stay increased by 9 percent, "suggesting that corporates have begun to relax their travel policies in light of the perceived improvement in the current economic climate," according to HRG director of global hotel relations Margaret Bowler. Given market recovery, Bowler noted that "it is likely clients will revert to the traditional RFP season," rather than delaying the process to secure more favorable rates, as many did in 2009.