More good news for the hotel sector this morning as Carlson Wagonlit Travel UK reported solid bookings in 2013.
Yesterday we reported UK hotel bookings and occupancy levels had exceeded expectations of analysts at accountancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers.
CWT today told Buying Business Travel its hotel figures revealed a similar picture for the first quarter, but that bookings in Q2 and Q3 picked up more pace.
Nigel Turner, director of programme management and business development at Carlson Wagonlit Travel, said by the final quarter bookings were up by as much as 10% year on year.
“Hotel bookings bounced back from a slow start in the first quarter to a healthy mid-year with strong final quarter bookings,” he said.
“This displayed real confidence from organisations as business travellers were back out on the road.
Turner said in 2014 he expected to see the use of review sites to continue growing among business travellers.
“They will continue to socialise their experiences as much as when travelling for leisure.
“Also blurring the lines between leisure and business is the trend for hotels to change their offering to meet the needs of the new business traveller – room service is out, and open plan lobbies where you can work and meet with colleagues, have breakfast, a drink or get a snack will become even more popular,” he said.
London, Edinburgh and Manchester were consistently the most popular UK destinations for business travellers 2013.