The Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) released its latest quarterly report this week, which indicates that business travel will continue to climb in 2012, but at a slower pace than has been the case thus far in 2011.

The report, Business Travel Quarterly Outlook–United States, shows that business travel spend has been on the rebound this year and is expected to grow 6.9 percent over 2010 figures, reaching an estimated $250.2 billion by the end of December. The findings also show, however, that ongoing uncertain economic conditions in the United States will likely lead to a slow-down in business travel spend in 2012, with just 4.3 percent growth forecast for the upcoming year.

“Uncertain economic conditions around the world continue to impact companies, which in turn impacts business travel plans and can lead to hesitation in spending,” said Michael W. McCormick, GBTA executive director and COO, in a statement. “However, business travel spending growth remains vibrant, and the current environment does not portend a dramatic travel slowdown.”

Rising travel rates will likely lead the growth in spend for 2012, according to GBTA, but the silver lining is that prices for travel goods and services also will rise slower in 2012 than in 2011. GBTA predicts U.S. business travel price inflation to be 2.4 percent in 2012, compared to price inflation of 4.3 percent for 2011.

Overseas growth continues to boom, with Asian destinations leading the way, with global U.S. companies enjoying export booms and gains in their overall competitiveness. GBTA projects corporations to book 3.3 percent more trips abroad in 2012 and to increase their international travel spend 7.7 percent to $34.3 billion, following 2011 growth of 9.1 percent in international travel spend as currently forecast.

Meetings and convention group travel is also expected to grow at about half its current pace—3.5 percent in 2012 compared to an anticipated 6.8 percent growth in 2011.

Photo: GBTA

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Global hotel reservation service TravelClick released its latest North American Hospitality Review figures yesterday, showing that hotel demand continues to recover, albeit slowly.

Looking at hotel bookings from Sept. 1, 2011 to Aug. 31, 2012, committed occupancy is up 2 percent year-over-year, while average daily rate (ADR) is up 4.8 percent, and revenue per available room (RevPAR) is up a strong 6.1 percent.

Business travel continues to the drive the increasing numbers, according to TravelClick:

“As the late summer leisure travel season comes to a close, it is clear that the business travel segment will resume its role as the primary demand driver for U.S. hotels throughout the rest of 2011,” said Tim Hart, executive vice president, business intelligence, TravelClick. “However it is important to note that, while the outlook for the travel industry is strong, we need to pay close attention to the recent pace of bookings, particularly in group travel, which has slowed over the last thirty days. Over the next several months, it will need to be determined whether this slower pace is an aberration, or indicates a true slowdown in group demand.”

The top five markets showing the most year-over-year occupancy growth are Detroit, Indianapolis, Philadelphia, Seattle and Chicago. The weakest markets showing negative growth are Washington, D.C., Honolulu, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Denver and Miami—though RevPAR for all but Washington registered increases, with Miami showing the most growth at 15.1 percent. The numbers indicate that rising rates are making up for the decrease in demand.

Third Quarter 2011 (July 2011 – September 2011)

In Q3 2011, business travel was up 4 percent in both committed occupancy and ADR compared to 2010. Leisure travel rose 1 percent in committed occupancy, with ADR up 5.1 percent. Group demand was down compared to the same time last year.

Markets showing strong occupancy growth in the third quarter are Indianapolis (12.1 percent), Tampa (12.4 percent) and Philadelphia (9.8 percent). Markets showing negative occupancy growth are Miami (-17.2 percent), Honolulu (-6.1 percent) and Atlanta (-4.6 percent).

Fourth Quarter 2011 (October 2011 – December 2011)

With the majority of hotels in the top 25 markets increasing their rates for the fourth quarter, the average publically available rate for a room is up 9.8 percent from last year. Transient pricing continues to drive ADR, which is up 5.5 percent compared to Q4 2010. Committed occupancy continues to level off, increasing only 0.8 percent.

Markets that show above-average occupancy growth in the fourth quarter are Detroit (29.7 percent), San Francisco (15.6 percent) and Houston (11.7 percent). Markets showing anticipated decreases are Atlanta (-9.7 percent), Denver (-11.3 percent) and Miami (-25.9 percent).

The TravelClick North American Hospitality Review is based on reservation and committed group sales data by participating hotel companies, which include Gaylord, Hilton, Hyatt, InterContinental, Loews, Marriott, Omni and Starwood. The data is collected in 25 major North American markets, representing 202 million annual room nights and $27 billion in annual room revenue.

Photos: TravelClick

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Avis Rent A Car this week became the first car-rental company to integrate TripIt’s technology into its website, www.avis.com. The move allows users who link their TripIt and Avis accounts to easily book car rentals without having to enter their travel details.

The new Avis service uses itinerary-management company TripIt’s open-technology platform to extract trip details, such as flight and hotel reservations, from TripIt itineraries to automatically populate the corresponding fields on www.avis.com.

“The vast majority of people typically make airline and hotel reservations first, before they reserve a rental car,” said Tom Gartland, president, North America, for Avis Budget Group, parent company of Avis. “This partnership will help travelers who have completed their air and hotel arrangements and provide them with an even faster way to add an Avis rental to their trip. TripIt members will benefit from not having to remember travel dates, times or flight information, and having their rental car arrangements directly connected with their other travel plans.”

Likewise, when TripIt users book Avis rentals through the linked service, the information will automatically be added to their itineraries on TripIt. The service is free of charge. Users can links their accounts at www.avis.com/tripitservice.

In addition, to celebrate the new partnership, TripIt is offering a Supercharge Your Itinerary sweepstakes. Users who connect their Avis and TripIt accounts are automatically entered. One grand-prize winner will receive 14 free days of an Avis rental (seven days of an Avis Cool Car and seven days of an Avis Premium Car) and a free year of TripIt Pro. Five runner-up winners will receive seven free days of an Avis Premium Car rental and a free year of TripIt Pro. Visit www.tripit.com/promotions/avissweepstakes for more information.

Photo: TripIt

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