July hotel bookings through global distribution system channels in North America dropped by 6.4 percent from a year earlier,

according to Pegasus Solutions. Globally, GDS hotel bookings were down 3.4 percent. Despite the decline, Pegasus CEO David Millili said July represented a "marked improvement" compared with previous months that had even larger decreases. The average daily hotel rate paid through GDSs in July was up 3 percent globally and 5.8 percent in North America. Pegasus projected that corporate bookings would slow this month but then accelerate throughout the fall, when more conferences typically occur.