The leisure market performance was accompanied by a continued expansion of vacation booking windows, with trips being booked an average of 18.75 days ahead of arrival in May globally, rising by +3.0% over May 2011.

Worldwide, average daily hotel rates (ADR) paid in May rose by +5.6% over 2011, while leisure booking volumes closed the gap from nearly -8.0% in March to just -4.6% in May. 
  
Longer booking windows are an indication of stable consumer confidence as well as a solid commitment to travel, according to David Millili, chief executive officer of Pegasus Solutions.
 
"A certain consumer will always act exclusively on last-minute deals," said Millili. "But we're seeing leisure travelers relish the chance to plan for their vacations. It appears they are finding better values with greater selection and availability by booking further in advance. Even so, the rates they're willing to pay based on business on the books shows they're willing to pay the same or more than they did last summer."
 
Global booking windows for the corporate market evidenced growth in the smaller meeting segment as they decreased slightly to 18.24 days. Corporate bookings were down -5.7% worldwide compared to May 2011, which had been bolstered by rescheduled April 2011 travel following Japan's earthquake. Rates paid for business travel grew by nearly +4.0% over 2011, with North America's ADR increase of +7.6% second only to April's record +9.3% growth.
 
While bookings for the global distribution systems (GDS), which represent corporate travel, will continue to make progress during the summer, August and September hold the most promise for growth over last year. Rates, too, are expected to continue rising compared to last year heading into autumn.
 
The Pegasus View reporting on May 2012 bookings is available online and by free subscription at www.pegs.com. Data reported in The Pegasus View comes from billions of transactions processed monthly by Pegasus Solutions facilitating more than $16 billion a year in hotel transactions. It is the only industry report to reflect data drawn from both GDS and ADS transactions, representing the business and leisure markets respectively for nearly 100,000 hotels worldwide.