Updates For Hotels Rail & Car

Hotels

Hotel Industry Index Shows Small Gain
Economic research firm e-forecasting.com, in conjunction with Smith Travel Research, reported that the Hotel Industry’s Pulse (HIP) index edged back up in October after hitting a snag the previous month.

After stalling in September with a decline of 0.7 percent, the HIP went up 0.2 percent in October. HIP is essentially a gross domestic product measure for the hotel industry and has historically signaled turning points for the U.S. hotel business. (Source: STR press release).

Corporate Hotel Bookings Start to Increase
Hotel technology provider Pegasus Solutions reports in its October Pegasus View, which analyzes booking data from more than 90,000 hotels worldwide, that bookings and net revenue figures are climbing back to 2008 levels, with positive movement in North America.

The region’s corporate bookings jumped +3.5% in volume in October 2009 compared to October 2008, and +21% in leisure bookings volume for the same period. Pegasus projects that these numbers presage similar recoveries in other parts of the world. (Source: Pegasus press release).

Rail

Amtrak Extends Holiday Fare Sale into the New Year
Amtrak has extended discounts of up to 25 percent on its Northeast Regional service between Washington, D.C., New York and Boston through March 31. Fares are as low as $49 each way between Washington and New York or New York and Boston. Reservations must be made 14 days in advance. Seats are limited and he fares are not available Dec.17-23, 26-30, Jan 3-4, Feb. 12 and 15. (Source: Amtrak press release).

Car Rental Satisfaction

After declining for two years, customer satisfaction with car rentals has stabilized, according to J.D. Power and Associate’s latest U.S. Rental Car Satisfaction Study.

• Overall satisfaction is 733 points on a 1,000-point scale, down just one point from last year. In the previous two years it declined by 16 points and 17 points respectively.
• The biggest reason for the improved rating is that the economic crisis forced car rental companies to downsize their fleets and use cars longer. That allowed many of them to lower their rental rates.
• One problem: increasing local taxes are often offsetting those price reductions.
• Enterprise ranked highest, for the sixth year in a row, followed by National and Hertz. National improved considerably from 2008, by 15 index points.

(Source: J.D. Power press release)

WE WISH YOU A SAFE AND HAPPY HOLIDAY SEASON!