U.S. air volume booked through corporate travel agents in January grew 11 percent year over year, according to UBS analysts. Their estimates also included a 1 percent increase in corporate airfares, producing an overall corporate airline revenue improvement of "roughly 12 percent." February volumes "look solid," they added.

Starwood Hotels & Resorts posted a fourth quarter 2009 net loss of $107 million compared with a $79 million profit the year before. Average daily rate during the quarter dropped 8.3 percent to $164.02 and occupancy climbed 0.7 points to 61.9 percent--driven mostly by corporate weekday demand, which grew 6 percent to 7 percent in December and January, according to Starwood CFO Vasant Prabhu. This year’s corporate negotiated rates came in at flat to slightly down "ending better than we might have expected a few months ago," Prabhu said. "We are hearing from our corporate customers that cuts in travel are behind them and companies want to get their people back on the road drumming up business and motivating their teams." Group bookings picked up slightly for 2010 and 2011. In the fourth quarter, group volume was up 15 percent and cancellations were down 50 percent, signaling the "return of the business traveler," according to Prabhu.

Moscow for the fifth consecutive year had the world's highest average daily hotel rate among major business markets, according to HRG. Based on "a combination of industry intelligence, actual room nights booked and rates paid by its U.K. clients," HRG found that Moscow's leading rate of 13,239 roubles (US$442), despite retreating 5 percent from 2008 as a result of declining demand from the banking and finance sectors, reflected "its maturity as a business destination." It was followed by Abu Dhabi at AED 1,285 (US$350), which jumped from fifth in 2008 despite a 1 percent average rate decline, and New York, which slid to third after experiencing a 23 percent drop in average daily rate. HRG also tracked large annual local-currency declines in Chicago (down 23 percent), Dubai and Dublin (each down 21 percent) and Belfast (down 20 percent). Meanwhile, Manama in Bahrain shot up to the fifth spot overall from 20th a year earlier as demand growth outpaced new supply.

Average daily hotel rate growth in Africa last year outpaced growth in other regions at 11 percent year over year, according to HRG, "as it continued to be the target of investment from multinational organizations engaged in sectors such as oil and gas, banking and finance, and telecoms." Measuring in British pounds, Hogg Robinson Group noted "strong performances" in Cairo and Johannesburg. The Middle East/West Asia region saw "slight growth" while Eastern Europe's average daily rate plummeted 18.5 percent as supply growth coincided with falling demand, according to HRG, which based findings on "a combination of industry intelligence, actual room nights booked and rates paid by its U.K. clients." Average daily rates also were down slightly across the rest of Europe, the United Kingdom and Asia-Pacific, and essentially flat in the Americas, according to HRG data.

"Hotels are opening up availability on corporate rates once more," according to HRG global hotel relations director Margaret Bowler. Commenting as part of Hogg Robinson's Group latest report on average hotel rates paid by corporate travelers (which were down--in some markets significantly--during 2009), Bowler cited hoteliers' pursuit of "long-term stable relationships" with corporate clients and low occupancies. "The majority of hotels have adopted sensible long-term pricing strategies to offer value rather than significant price cuts to customers in order to maintain their share of the market," according to Bowler. "This is a more sustainable approach in order to avoid rate cuts and price wars, which offer no long-term competitive advantage and often dilute their corporate business."

US Airways Group reported a $79 million net loss for the fourth quarter, narrower than the $543 million loss a year earlier. For full-year 2009, the company lost $205 million, significantly less than the $2.2 billion loss from 2008.

JetBlue Airways posted net profits of $11 million for the fourth quarter and $58 million for full year 2009, reversing losses from 2008. The company's fourth quarter passenger revenue rose 2 percent to $737 million, though average fare slid 4.5 percent to $135.