Eric Oppegaard
By Editorial Staff, Lodging Magazine
NEW YORK—Hoteliers in major North American markets can look forward to an improved group booking pace beginning at the end of 2016 and continuing into 2017, demonstrating its value in capturing incremental business as hoteliers prepare for the New Year. At the same time, hoteliers are experiencing healthy increases in both transient leisure (individual reservations that are made by leisure travelers) and group bookings in the third and fourth quarters of 2016, according to new data from TravelClick’s September 2016 North American Hospitality Review (NAHR).
“The current hotel environment is requiring a renewed need to focus on competing for new business as early as possible,” said John Hach, TravelClick’s senior industry analyst. “The group segment is showing signs of longer-term incremental opportunity, especially as we look out into the second quarter of 2017.”
