Corporate hotel bookings in Europe have nearly recovered to pre-Covid levels while lead-in times have also normalised, according to data from HotelHub.
The hotel booking specialist said that international business bookings in Europe in the third quarter of 2022 accounted for 43 per cent of all hotel sales, which compared with a 44 per cent share of the market in 2019.
HotelHub also found that the average lead time for corporate hotel bookings in Europe had increased over the past three months to 17 days, which was similar to the advance booking period in the third quarter of 2019. This time last year the lead time was just nine days before departure in Europe.
Another trend has seen the number of online hotel bookings accelerate significantly in the quarter, compared with the same period in 2019. In September 2019, 29 per cent of corporate bookings were made via online booking tools (OBTs) connected to HotelHub but this figure jumped up to 62 per cent at the end of September 2022.
HotelHub added that average daily rates (ADRs) in Europe’s top city destinations had started to level out or fall slightly in the third quarter after reaching or exceeding 2019 prices in the second quarter of 2022.
ADR in London has fallen from $313 in June 2022 to $276 in September 2022, while rates in Paris dipped from $231 to $211 over the same period and Rome’s hotels saw a decline from $192 to $181.
Eric Meierhans, chief commercial officer at HotelHub, said: “It’s very encouraging to see that international travel is continuing to increase, particularly in Europe where international hotel bookings are only one per cent below pre-pandemic levels.
“The fact that average lead times are more or less back to what they were pre-pandemic is also a good sign showing that corporate travellers can plan ahead with greater confidence, and do not need to make last-minute decisions or changes to travel plans.”
Meierhans added that the increase in the proportion of online bookings could be the “result of TMC staff shortages and servicing challenges, meaning corporates are more reliant on their OBT”.
“The spike in average hotel rates that we saw last quarter has also settled down in most key cities, particularly in Europe, now that supply and demand are levelling out,” he said.