Hotel company Hyatt is continuing to see “robust” demand for business travel in Europe while noting a post-Covid change in the pattern of bookings.
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Paul Dalgleish, Hyatt’s VP of revenue, sales and distribution in the EAME (Europe, Africa and Middle East) region, said that transient business travel was “doing well”, alongside buoyant demand for meetings and events at its European hotels.
Dalgleish said he expected to see overall revenue growth of around 5.5 to 6 per cent for Hyatt in the EAME region this year compared with its 2023 performance.
“I’m very optimistic – we’re not seeing a slowdown in any of our sectors,” said Dalgleish during a press conference at the new Grand Hyatt hotel in Barcelona, which opened in April.
“Business travel is quite robust. IT, consultancy, pharmaceuticals and FMCG (fast-moving consumer goods) are our top sectors. In general, all of our segments are up – albeit by different percentages.”
But Dalgleish also highlighted a change in corporate booking patterns with more business travellers now choosing to go on midweek trips than they did pre-pandemic.
“London as a city is dead on Monday and Friday but comes alive on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday,” he added. “The younger generation want to come into the office but the older generation is doing Monday and Friday at home and coming in during the week.
“There are different patterns of business travel and it’s being compressed into the week. We’re offering competitive rates on shoulder dates, and they are taking advantage of that and spreading it out.
“There’s massive demand for people to have interpersonal connectivity again but patterns have changed and it’s up to us to react to that.”
Dalgleish expressed confidence about the strength of the business travel market in Europe this year. But he added that the many elections being held across the region this year could have a “knock-on effect on government travel”.