Hotel booking lead times in the fourth quarter of 2024 increased 7% over the same period in 2023 to 17.35 days, according to research from HotelHub based on bookings made via their technology. For the entire year, booking lead times were 16.13 days, up 9.88% from 14.68 days in 2023. HotelHub is a hotel booking platform for TMCs.
The consistent growth in booking lead times across 2024, according to the report, aligns with more stringent travel-approval processes as businesses have tackled a year of economic uncertainty. Last-minute trips, whether domestic or international, are becoming more infrequent, with companies focused on keeping costs down and ensuring that the trips taken have a solid business justification.
Across the year, the global average nightly rate for 2024 was $184, up 4.55% from $176 in 2023. While inflation was a major concern for business travel throughout 2024, HotelHub’s findings show that the rate at which prices are increasing is tapering off. In the first quarter of 2024, rates were up 7.92% compared with the same period in 2023; however, by the fourth quarter, a significantly smaller increase of 3.91% was recorded versus the fourth quarter of 2023.
Rates in many major centers of commerce remain much higher than the worldwide average but, on the whole, the year-on-year increases noted in previous periods are also shrinking. In London, the most popular destination for HotelHub travelers, hotel rates were up 8.7% in the first quarter of 2024 compared with the same period in 2023; however, by the fourth quarter this increase sat at 6.7%. New York, which was the third most popular destination, actually recorded price decreases in the second half of the year.
The data also reveal that average stay lengths have changed little since 2022, sitting consistently around 2.5 days. Pre-pandemic, this figure was about 3.5 days, which suggests that the subsequent widespread hybrid-working models have had a lasting impact on the way businesses travel, with trips planned to coincide with the days colleagues and clients will be in the office.
Paul Raymond, director of business development at HotelHub, said that “following some turbulent years, the corporate world appeared to take a deep breath in 2024, waiting to see what would happen next.” The latest findings, he said, suggest that “while businesses are continuing to travel despite the uncertainty, they are putting greater emphasis on the need to control and maintain comprehensive visibility of their hotel expenditures.”
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