Business Travel News - Corporate Travel Index 2008 - (Page 4)

Prices Rise In Resilient U.S. Seller’s Market BY MICHAEL B. BAKER, JAY BOEHMER & ELISSA HUNTER orporate travel buyers seeking some relief from years of a travel seller’s market found none in the United States in 2007, as continually rising hotel rates and high restaurant prices propelled the average daily total cost of business travel higher yet again. The daily price of a hotel room booked at an average negotiated rate, a rented car and three meals was $314.78, according to Business Travel News’ 2008 Corporate Travel Index—a dollar amount dwarfed by costs in the most expensive American cities, particularly New York, which exists in a sphere all its own. Unsurprisingly, the lion’s share of the typical traveler’s daily expenses—44 percent—is committed to hotel stays, but eating three meals in restaurants comprises 30 percent of that traveler’s dollar. As such, those food costs would be more expensive than would a typical car rental, which eats a little more than one quarter. C by limited- and full-service properties, and editors ascertained and aggregated individual city hotel tax rates to arrive at the total cost. BTN also based its hotel results on Advito numbers in last year’s Corporate Travel Index, but used tax information Advito pulled from the Sabre global distribution system and averaged hotel costs by pricing tier, rendering year-over-year comparisons meaningless. Bob Brindley, vice president of Advito, said that although a few cities’ high ranking was surprising—Albany, N.Y., was the 10th most expensive, with a total average rate of $174.42 per night, for example—the Corporate Travel Index results are relatively consistent with HOTEL The hotel seller’s market remained firmly in place in 2007, and high-occupancy markets retained a huge price premium over much of the rest of the country: The difference in hotel cost between the cities ranked first and fifth is larger than the difference between the fifth- and 100th-ranked cities. To arrive at its hotel rate estimates, Business Travel News used data provided by BCD Travel’s Advito consulting division that show negotiated accepted rates for BCD clients. BTN then averaged the data ERIC WONG 2 2008 U.S. PER DIEM .. . . . . . . . . . . .30% . . . . . . . . . BREAKDOWN. . . . . FOOD 44% HOTEL 26% CAR AVERAGE DAILY COST: $314.78 overall market expectations. The highest-ranking cities generally are those with little select-service property choice for travel buyers, according to Brindley. “All city centers have a greater preponderance of luxury and upper upscale products,” he said. “That’s just because of the high cost of having a property in those locations.” Boosted by high occupancy and limited supply, New York is in a class by itself when it comes to hotel rates. The average hotel rate in the city, $325.80 per night including taxes, is almost 30 percent higher than the next most expensive city, Washington, D.C. In HRG UK’s 2007 half-year hotel survey, which factors in industry figures along with data from its clients’ bookings, New York was the only U.S. city to rank in its global top 10. New York also was one of four U.S. cities to post double-digit average daily rate growth in HRG’s survey, with rates increasing by 14 percent. Other cities with that distinction were Houston at 18 percent, Las Vegas at 16 percent and Denver at 10 percent. Advito’s Brindley said his data showed that New York had the highest year-over-year increase in 2007, followed by Chicago. Continued on page 8 4 CORPORATE TRAVEL INDEX. 2008. .. BUSINESS TRAVEL NEWS www.BTNonline.com MARCH 3, 2008 http://www.BTNonline.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Business Travel News - Corporate Travel Index 2008

Business Travel News - Corporate Travel Index 2008
Contents
Domestic Corporate Travel Index
Per Diems in 100 U.S. Cities
Alphabetical List Of U.S. Cities
Hotel Costs In 100 U.S. Cities
Food Costs In 100 U.S. Cities
Car Rental Costs In 100 U.S. Cities
New York
London
Dusseldorf
Dubai
International Corporate Travel Index
International Methodology
Per Diems in 100 International Cities
Alphabetical List Of International Cities
Hotel Costs In 100 International Cities
Food Costs In 100 International Cities

Business Travel News - Corporate Travel Index 2008