Expect a jump in hotel prices for your next annual meeting.

According to a new report [PDF] from the hospitality consulting firm TravelClick, there’s likely to be an increase in committed occupancy rates between October of 2012 and September of 2013 — as well as an increase in hotel prices after a couple of down years.

While the pricing has not quite returned to pre-downturn levels, current pricing trends continue to move in the right direction.

TravelClick’s vice president of enterprise solutions, Rao Avasarala, says that pricing trends are improving for the hotel industry as a whole, with average daily rates for hotels in the top 25 markets up 3.6 percent compared to a year ago.

“While the pricing has not quite returned to pre-downturn levels,” Avasarala says in his report, “current pricing trends continue to move in the right direction.”

Other details from the survey:

More commitments made: The brightest spot for the hotel industry might be committed occupancy, which is up 5.2 percent as a whole in the top 25 markets, as well as 3.2 percent for the group segment.

Booking sooner: Avasarala says that individual travelers are booking their hotels sooner than usual, though the trends may not hold and may be affected by market trends such as the fiscal cliff. New group booking sales appear to be flat, with slowing growth in recent months — something which might be affected by similar factors, though Avasarala says it’s possible it could be a “pause in group activity.”

Cities showing growth: According to the report’s performance summary of the top 25 markets in North America, many urban areas are showing positive upward trends — particularly the Denver and Seattle areas, which each have particularly strong increases in average daily rate and revenue per available room. The Washington, D.C., region is showing the sharpest decreases in average rates, while Tampa’s committed occupancy is down significantly. The city hosted the Republican National Convention last year.

Where are you eyeing for your next annual meeting? Let us know in the comments.

(TMG archive photo)