Electronic Hotel Revenue Up 19.3 Percent in Q4 2006
TravelCLICKs eMonitor Reports Annual Growth for Room Nights at 8.4 Percent,
CHICAGO, IL, April 25, 2007. TravelCLICK's quarterly eMonitor results indicate continued robust health for the hotel industry based on electronic distribution performance for the fourth quarter of 2006. The data shows that worldwide electronic hotel revenue from the Global Distribution Systems (GDS) and key Internet sites increased 19.3 percent over the fourth quarter of 2005. The number of electronic room nights booked for the fourth quarter increased 7.7 percent over the same time last year, while the Average Daily Rate (ADR) increased by 10.8 percent. The average length of stay for the fourth quarter 2006 was 2.06 nights, nearly the same as last year.
eMonitor results are compiled from TravelCLICK's comprehensive proprietary database, which is the exclusive source of hotel industry electronic distribution data from the Amadeus, Galileo, Sabre and Worldspan GDS. The database of electronic distribution performance provides a comprehensive foundation for data analysis and trend forecasting that is used by the global hospitality industry in the development of integrated distribution strategy.
Observations for the market based on this latest data include:
---|Hotel bookings through the GDS continue steady sustainable growth on a large base of more than 50MM.
---|In 2006, ADR for room nights booked through travel agents was 41 percent higher than ADR booked through consumer Internet.
---|In nearly every segment and top destination market, ADR continues its strong year-over-year growth.
"Within the GDS, there is a sustainable trend of much higher ADR business opportunity when compared to other online distribution channels," said John Hach, Vice President of eMarketing Products at TravelCLICK. "The ADR variance of 41 percent provides compelling evidence regarding the need for hoteliers to reach travel agents during their primary point of customer interaction."
Travel Agent Component
Travel agent bookings represented 79.3 percent of total room nights. The travel agent component of GDS bookings had an 11.5 percent increase in ADR and an 18.5 percent increase in revenue versus the fourth quarter of 2005. Travel agents also continued to be a key source of higher rate business for hotels. The average rate for room nights booked through travel agents for the fourth quarter of 2006 was 43.6 percent higher than the average rate for room nights booked via the Internet for the same period last year.
Year-to-date for 2006, travel agent hotel room nights via the GDS were up 6.3 percent, driving an 8.4 percent growth in ADR from the same period in 2005.
Internet Component
Internet room nights, sourced from consumer online transactions on third-party websites powered by the GDS and Online Distribution Database (ODD), showed a gain of 13.6 percent compared to the fourth quarter of 2005. ADR was up 9.2 percent for Internet bookings; revenue was up 24.1 percent compared to the same period last year.