A number of hoteliers have seen strong growth in advance bookings this summer against last year, in line with positive forecasts by STR for June, July and August, according to HotelNewsNow.com. They attribute the encouraging metrics to a continued rise in demand against a muted supply growth, as well as improved consumer and business confidence. Pricing power also has returned, some hoteliers say, allowing hotel rates to slowly inch back up toward the peak rates of 2007-08.