Report: U.S. Hotels Have Reason for Optimism as Consumer Confidence Grows

The latest edition of Duetto’s Pulse Report, which tracked data for February 2021, shows that the majority of markets across the Americas are continuing to show modest signs of positivity in terms of booking activity and web traffic—a promising indication that markets are beginning to recover.

The latest data in Duetto’s Pulse Report for February 2021 continues to show promise compared to the final months of 2020. While net new bookings remain significantly behind pre-pandemic levels across the region, there is solid momentum and encouraging signs of continued improvement to come.

Duetto noted an increase in new bookings made in February 2021 for stays throughout the calendar year compared to bookings made in January 2021, most likely due to a shift in mindset as consumer confidence is boosted as a result of vaccination rollouts and dropping COVID cases. Additionally, February 2021’s net pick up (up 51 percent vs. the prior month) benefited from the long Valentine’s Day and Presidents’ Day weekends, with STR reporting those dates saw the highest occupancy of the past 18 weeks indexed against 2019 levels. Encouragingly, new bookings for March, April, and May are also continuing on the right path, with increases of 227 percent, 156 percent, and 124 percent, respectively.

The booking pace continues to remain low, with business on the books as of the end of February 2021 for March, April, and May at -52 percent, -55 percent, and -59 percent, respectively. While this is a slight improvement compared to prior months, the outlook will become clearer as the year progresses and the number of vaccinated people increases.

In terms of web traffic, the upward trajectory continues across the region for all of 2021, which indicates that confidence and appetite for traveling are growing once again. April, in particular, is looking healthy in terms of web shopping, with searches up an impressive 235 percent compared to shopping in January 2021 for the same month. This is potentially due to the fact that the Easter holiday falls on April 4 this year.