Hotel revenue up 12.9 percent from electronic channels in 1Q

Worldwide electronic hotel revenue from the GDS and key Internet sites combined was up 12.9 percent, according to TravelCLICK’s eMonitor results for the first quarter of this year.

Electronic room nights for the first quarter increased by 7.6 percent from the same time last year, while ADR increased by 4.9 percent contributing to a revenue growth of 12.9 percent. The average length of stay for the first quarter 2006 was 2.14 nights, the same as last year.

“Consistent with projections, the travel agent channel continues to show consistent growth each quarter while securing higher ADR bookings for hotels,” said John Hach, vice president of product management - eMarketing Products for TravelCLICK.

“Using this proven channel, hotels are optimising their GDS performance with an enhanced promotion strategy that not only distributes rates and inventory on the GDS, but also drives demand and ensures ideal placement. This stable growth is ensuring GDS as an important element of a hotel's overall integrated distribution strategies including all online channels -- GDS and the Internet,” said Hach.

Travel agent bookings remained the dominant source of GDS hotel e-business, representing 84.9 percent     of total room nights.

“Travel agents continued to be a key source of higher rate business for hotels. The average rate for room nights booked through travel agents was 37.1 percent higher than the average rate for room nights booked via the Internet. For the first quarter 2006, travel agent hotel room nights via the GDS were up 8.5 percent, driving a 13.9 percent revenue growth from the same period in 2005,” stated an official release.

Internet (consumer online) room nights displayed a gain of three percent compared to the first quarter of 2005. ADR was up 2.7 percent for Internet bookings; revenue was up 5.8 percent compared to the same period last year.