The average first-quarter daily hotel rate for North American transient business travel increased 4.3 percent year over year

on a 1.3 percent increase in occupancy, according to TravelClick, but group demand softened. Overall group occupancy dipped 1.9 percent compared with the first quarter of 2012, a decrease that "warrants a watchful eye," according to TravelClick executive vice president Tim Hart. Overall first-quarter ADR, including business, leisure and group bookings, increased 3.4 percent, and overall occupancy increased 1.5 percent. TravelClick for the second quarter projected stronger year-over-year occupancy growth of 5.1 percent for transient business travel and 3.4 percent for group travel, but Hart warned that "it is unlikely that [hoteliers] will experience the same gains in both occupancy and ADR that they did in 2012. While we do expect to see growth in the market overall, weakening group demand will make it hard for the industry to achieve the same level of performance it saw in 2012."