Business Travel Share of Hotel Revenue Declines; Carriers Weigh Corp. Demand

	January 26, 2022

AHLA: Business Travel Share of U.S. Hotel Revenue Down Sharply from '19

By Donna M. Airoldi

Business travelers made up 52.5 percent of U.S. lodging industry room revenue in 2019. The American Hotel & Lodging Association projects that share to represent just 43.6 percent in 2022, according to its 2022 State of the Hotel Industry Report. Further, business travel demand is projected to reach just 80 percent of 2019 levels by the third quarter of 2022, according to Kalibri Labs. Keep Reading

United: Corporate Travel Recovery is 'TBD'

United Airlines was challenged late in the fourth quarter but plans to ramp up capacity as the year progresses, and "bookings continue to be strong for March and beyond," said CEO Scott Kirby during the carrier's fourth-quarter earnings call. Keep Reading

American: Business Travel Recovering As Leisure Lines Blur

American Airlines' bookings are "recovering quickly" after the Covid-19 omicron variant triggered a drop-off in December, incoming CEO Robert Isom said during an American earnings call. Keep Reading

Delta Foresees Return to Profitability by March

After a bumpy year-end and start to 2022 with mounting flight cancellations and increasing Covid-19 cases, Delta Air Lines anticipates a return to "solid profitability" in March, with "significant demand" from pent-up consumer and business travel, executives said during an earnings call. Keep Reading

Delta Extends Flight Credit Expiration Date by One Year

Delta Air Lines customers with flight credits on the books from the airline now will have until Dec. 31, 2023, to rebook their ticket for travel through 2024, according to the carrier. Keep Reading

As we see small businesses traveling, there are more people traveling for a blend of business and leisure purposes. More people are willing to buy themselves a premium fare product when a cheaper one is available."

- American's Vasu Raja

Amex: 2021 a Banner Year for SME Business, Not Large Corp.

Spending volume on American Express commercial cards continued on an upward trajectory in the fourth quarter, totaling $141 billion compared with $126 billion in the third quarter and up 30 percent year over year, the company reported. Keep Reading

Rate Hikes Prompt STR to Up U.S. Hotel Forecast

Citing U.S. average daily hotel rate increases spurred by leisure demand and inflationary pressure, STR and Tourism Economics have slightly raised their U.S. lodging forecast, the companies announced Monday. Keep Reading

TravelPerk Adds Another $110M in Funding, Tops $1B Valuation

Corporate travel management platform TravelPerk has raised $115 million in funding on top of the $160 million announced last April, and plans to use it to "double down" efforts in sustainability solutions and for expansion in the United States and Europe. Keep Reading

GBTA Survey: Omicron Causing Near-Term Travel Jitters

The spread of the omicron variant of Covid-19 has spurred some new business travel restrictions and darkened some travel buyers' opinions about their travelers' willingness to hit the road, but most are confident that business travel volumes will recover throughout 2022, according to a new survey. Keep Reading

After Public Debut, Sonder CEO Details Push for Corp. Travel

Q&A with Sonder CEO Francis Davidson

Short-term rental provider Sonder debuted on the Nasdaq stock exchange after shareholders approved its merger with special purpose acquisition company Gores Metropoulos II. The day after, Sonder founder and CEO Francis Davidson talked with BTN's Terri Hardin about the importance of establishing a consistent stream of business travel demand. Keep Reading

Who Bought Whom in 2021

The business travel industry's merger and acquisition activity in 2021, while arguably less intense than some pandemic-era predictions had foretold, nevertheless was frisky, particularly in the travel management company sector. Keep Reading