Pulse Report | October 2022

STRONG YEAR-END FOR EUROPE

 

Europe is the favored destination for winter travel this year, as we compare data across the four Pulse regions (North America, Latin America, EMEA, and APAC). Exchange rates may be playing a part in this story as market sentiment shifted in Europe’s favor in early September, in line with the Pound and Euro dropping in value against the US Dollar.

Globally, year-over-year figures are promising. But when we compare against pre-pandemic levels, some markets still have a long way to go.

Europe is outperforming all regions, but North American hoteliers need not give up hope. New York hotels do have a lot to be thankful for as we head into the Thanksgiving period, and Christmas and the year-end look promising for many city and resort destinations.

Download our full report for regional insights from North America, Latin America, EMEA, and APAC.

  • Pickup

  • On the Books

  • Web Traffic

Weekly Net Pick Up by Stay Month

graphs-pulse-2022-October-final_Global - Pickup

This graph shows the volume of net room night pick-up (new bookings minus cancelations) broken down by stay month made during the most recent calendar month (September 2022). The percentage indicates the variance in comparison to the prior month (August 2022).

Aggregate figures show good, strong momentum on a global basis for future stay dates. October stays are up by 164% month-over-month, and November is up by 100% - essentially doubling on the previous month’s figures. December is up by 68%. This momentum continues into the New Year with January 2023 stay date figures up by 53%, February up by 41%, and March showing growth of 15%. After that, it all slows down, as we have come to expect from our shorter booking windows.

On The Books vs. STLY by Stay Month

graphs-pulse-2022-October-final_Global-OTB_Global - OTB

This graph shows the evolution of reserved status room night volume for future stay dates broken down by stay month over the last three months.The percentage indicates the variance compared to same time last year for the most recent month’s data.

Globally, we can see that all months are pacing ahead of STLY, and the same time two years ago. This is with the exception of May, which is the only month that shows figures behind these two benchmark years at present. Of course, these figures are being driven by exceptionally strong performances in some regions, such as Europe, but on average, pace is up by 25% for Q4 2022 and Q1 2023 compared to STLY.  Compared to 2019 figures, we can see that there is still plenty to be done before the global hotel industry can return to pre-pandemic figures. October OTB is down by 14% compared to the same time in 2019, November is at -13%, December -12%, and January -23%.

Volume of Web Traffic by Stay Month

graphs-pulse-2022-October-final_Global-Web-Traffic_Global-Web-Traffic

This graph shows volume of web traffic data (bookings, regrets and denials on brand.com) for future stay dates, broken down by stay month.The percentage indicates the variance in comparison to the last Pulse Report.

Globally, web traffic continues to look strong and interest in travel is definitely there. Each month we continue to move in the right direction, as web traffic increases. If we break it down by region however, we can see that web traffic for North America and APAC has slowed, whereas EMEA got the bulk of searches. In September, searches for stays in the month of October grew by 38% compared to the prior month. That is great month-over-month growth. However, searches for October stays made in August were up 92% on July figures, so while September web traffic is showing healthy growth, it has slowed somewhat from earlier in the summer. Looking ahead, in September, searches for stays in the month of November (a 6–8-week lead time) grew by 19%. But again, when we look at the prior month,for those searches that took place in August compared to July, for November stays, we saw 93% growth.

Download the Complete Pulse Report