Amadeus-Cendyn: Q1 U.S. Negotiated Hotel Volume Up

Total first-quarter U.S. room nights booked under corporate negotiated rates increased slightly year over year, according to a new report by travel technology companies Amadeus and Cendyn.

U.S. hotel room nights booked in Q1 using negotiated rates increased 1.2 percent year over year, according to data from Amadeus' Demand360 platform. The average daily rate of those bookings increased 3.5 percent year over year, according to the companies. 

The data is part of the quarterly Hospitality Group and Business Performance Index, a product from Amadeus and Cendyn—which acquired original partner Knowland last year—that uses proprietary booking data from each firm to develop overall health and performance indices for the U.S. lodging industry.

The companies' overall first-quarter hospitality metric is 109.1 percent, a measure of event and hotel booking data compared to a baseline set one year prior. That's the highest level in four quarters, according to the companies. The index score for negotiated-rate bookings was 104.8 percent. 

First-quarter U.S. room nights booked through indirect channels that use global distribution systems increased 7.4 percent year over year, while ADR increased 2 percent, for an index score of 109.5 percent.

Event volume was 114.6 percent of the prior-year quarter, according to the companies. 

St. Louis led all U.S. cities with a first-quarter index score of 121 percent of the prior-year quarter, followed by Philadelphia (117.1 percent) and New Orleans (115.9 percent).