NEW YORK—In the third quarter (Q3) 2013, online channels which include Online Travel Agents (OTAs) and hotel websites (Brand.com) continued to experience the most growth in hotel bookings, according to data from the TravelClick North American Distribution Review (NADR). The NADR aggregates hotel bookings by channel for the transient segment including individual leisure and business travelers.
The OTA channel experienced the largest jump in bookings, with a 13.6 percent increase in the third quarter compared to last year. Brand.com, increased year-over-year by 5.3 percent. The GDS (Global Distribution System, used by travel agents) grew 3.7 percent. Hotel Direct (calls right to the property and walk-in customers) remained flat (-0.2 percent) and calls to a hotel’s 800-number, the CRO channel, decreased -5.5 percent.
Average daily rates (ADR) in Q3 across all channels grew 3.6 percent compared to last year. The OTA channel had the highest ADR growth with an increase of 8.0 percent. Additional channels that showed growth include: Hotel Direct, up 4.1 percent; GDS up 2.5 percent; CRO up by 3.8 percent and Brand.com up 2.5 percent.
In Q4, OTA ADR is currently tracking ahead by 7.1 percent. ADR for the fourth quarter is also growing for the other channels, up 2.4 percent for the CRO channel, 5.6 percent for the hotel direct channel, 2.6 percent for the GDS channel, and 1.7 percent for Brand.com.
“The most recent NADR shows that while all channels are important, hotels need to maintain a strong focus on the online channels in order to win their fair share of these fastest growing sources of demand,” said Tim Hart, executive vice president, business intelligence, TravelClick. “However, while it may be tempting for hoteliers to throw all resources towards online channels, offline channels still play a critical role in attracting important types of travelers, particularly high ADR business travelers, and should not be forgotten.”
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