What credit crunch? Asks the luxury sector

With so much bad news dominating we have cast about to see whether there are any sectors left unscathed - and it does seem that the luxury travel sector is quietly enjoying quite a buoyant time - could it be that the economic factors are creating a polarised market?

According to luxuryexplorer.com they have seen strong growth in both booking values and length of stay for the first three months of 2008 – this despite the weaker Pound and US Dollar.

London topped Luxury Explorer's chart for availability enquiries, followed by Italy, France, Mallorca, South Africa and Bali.

London also led the number of bookings, but came sixth in terms of room nights per booking with an average of 1.8 room nights and an average value of £318 per night, down from £350 per night in Q1 2007, suggesting some downward pressure on prices at London's finest hotels.

Despite the Euros rise and rise, France was Luxury Explorer's number two destination by number bookings during the period, with an average 2.4 room nights per booking and a healthy average value of £347 per night.

Surprisingly, the Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan came top in terms of cost per room night at £441 and also top in average number of nights per booking at 5.4.

India accounted for 16% of Luxury Explorer's Q1 bookings, with a average 2.1 nights per booking and an average £233 room rate, but Italy topped the average value chart with LE's average Italian hotel room booked in the period being £435 per night, compared with £330 in 2007 ¬ a rise of more than 30% in 12 months - and with 4.6 nights per booking up from 3.6 in 2007.

Mallorca averaged 4 nights per booking at £280 per night and South Africa averaged £333 per night and 3 nights per booking. Bali and Thailand remained popular with average room rates of £206 each . Interestingly New York was the cheapest place to stay in the LE Top 10 most popular destinations, with an average room night costing £164 and 1.5 nights per booking, evidence that there remains an upside to a weak US Dollar!

Overall, the average LE booking in the period was £938 for 2.7 nights at an average £348 per night, up from £855 for 2.6 nights and an average £319 per night in Q1 2007, an increase of almost 11% in average room night value over 2007.

Commenting on these results, Peter Matthews, Luxury Explorer's founder and Chairman, said “given the weight of bad news about the economy here and in the US, we're surprised at the year-on-year increases in overall volume, room nights per booking and average rates per night at our collection of luxury hotels. We expected to see customers opting for more shorter breaks, but that's just not happening to date.”