ROCKVILLE, Md. — Kalibri Labs’ U.S. Hotel Industry Performance Overview (HIPO) reveals that after 10 months of consecutive growth, Brand.com year-to-date (YTD) bookings are up 7.7 percent compared to the same period last year and are growing faster than OTA bookings (up 7.1 percent) as a portion of the actualized demand. As of October YTD, Brand.com accounted for 24.5 percent of actualized demand while OTA represented 16.3 percent.
Both Brand.com and OTA channels cost more per booking than property direct bookings, impacting the overall U.S. COPE percent, which represents the percent of revenue retained after booking costs are removed. On average in October, Brand.com channel booking costs were $9.21 per occupied room, OTA booking costs were $22.43, and property direct booking costs were $2.61. As of October, the U.S. COPE percent was 91.9 percent, a 0.24 percent decrease year-over-year.
“Effectively, hotels spent 8.1 percent of their top-line revenue in October on direct booking costs, excluding sales and marketing expenses,” said Cindy Estis Green, CEO of Kalibri Labs. “This decline in COPE percent has been a trend over the past several months, led largely by the continued shift to more costly online channels.” Booking costs include channel and transaction fees, retail and wholesale commissions, loyalty fees, and amenity costs.
Loyalty Member Bookings
In the United States as of October YTD, growth in loyalty member bookings and Brand.com bookings appear to be related. In fact, loyalty contribution through Brand.com was 88.6 percent in the United States YTD. However, total loyalty contribution across all channels varied throughout the top 10 markets displayed in the Kalibri Labs October HIPO report, ranging from 47.9 percent to 58.8 percent. Washington, D.C. actualized 58.8 percent of total room nights driven by loyalty members (2.8 percent higher than nationally), with 26 percent of all bookings made through Brand.com (1.5 percent higher than nationally), and almost nine out of 10 Brand.com bookings (89.8 percent) flagged as loyalty members (1.2 nationally).
Lead Time
Across the top 10 markets, lead time varied significantly. As of October YTD, New York City hotel guests booked 2.5 weeks earlier than guests in Houston—in NYC, guests booked more than five weeks prior to their stay, while Houston guests booked less than three weeks prior. Within NYC, upper-upscale hotels drove the lead time, with guests making reservations an average of 40 days prior to their stay.
U.S. Hotel Industry Performance Overview
October 2019 YTD Analysis (January-October)
| Metrics | October 2019 YTD | YOY % |
|---|---|---|
| Guest-Paid RevPAR All Rate Categories |
$90.92 | +1.1% |
| COPE RevPAR All Rate Categories |
$83.55 | +1.1% |
| Booking Cost per Room Night All Rate Categories |
$10.85 | +0.1% |
| Loyalty Contribution % Applicable Brand Only |
56.0% | +7.9% |
| Lead Time (Days) | 24.5 | -1.4% |
