Doyinsola Oladipo
(Reuters) – Business travel has returned to the United States, hotel executives said at an industry conference in New York this week, as companies of all sizes increasingly book travel at higher levels and prices than before the pandemic.
However, corporations are avoiding long-distance international business travel and are instead prioritizing travel to the United States. Small and medium-sized enterprises have led the recovery over the past couple of years, but orders from large enterprise companies are also growing.
“Business travel is back and growing steadily,” Hyatt Hotels (NYSE:) Corp CEO Mark Hoplamazian said late Monday at New York University’s International Hospitality Investment Conference.
Hoplamazian said the company’s corporate billings in April were up 12% year-to-date, and total business travel was up 6% overall compared to last year. Hyatt primarily serves large corporate clients.
SMBs are generating more repeat business as they prioritize meeting more frequently and closer to home, he said. Accor (EPA:) CEO Sebastien Bazin.
According to him, over the next 12 months prices for services from large corporate clients will increase by about 5-8%.
“Business is back, but it’s a different set of business travel,” he said.
The resurgence in business travel is also fueling the recovery of group business travel, and at higher prices.
“The group is the most successful segment right now,” said Marriott International (NASDAQ:) CEO Anthony Capuano. “To get the dates, locations and cities that [clients] want, they say, ‘Can I book five, six, seven years in advance?'” he said.
According to Hyatt’s Hoplamazian, associations have shown great interest in getting the dates they need.
“In some cases of group business, these are large meetings, these are pretty significant price increases in the mid-single digits,” Hyatt’s Hoplamazian said.