DALLAS—Guest acquisition platform SiteMinder recently unveiled its annual lists of the channels that brought the highest total booking revenue to hotels in the United States and Canada and other top travel destinations around the world in 2018. Varying from hotel’s ‘Brand.com‘ websites to a host of third-party channels, the diversity of the lists this year reflects a continued rise in consumer choice.
Mike Ford, SiteMinder’s managing director, said that the increased diversity is also indicative of a booking landscape that has exploded in recent years and is showing no signs of slowing. According to Euromonitor International, global online hotel sales have surpassed $264 billion to represent more than 170 percent growth in the last decade, including 13 percent over the past year, alone.
“This year we found almost 20 instances of booking channels making a first-time appearance in our lists. So, while the more popular brands continue to dominate, we are seeing a broader range of players emerging,” Ford explained. “This trend reflects not only the ever-growing list of options now available to travelers booking their stay, but the subsequent need for hotels to be on more booking channels than ever to keep up with today’s endless paths-to-purchase.”
Based on total gross revenue made for SiteMinder’s customers in the United States and Canada, the top 12 hotel booking channels in 2018 were:
1. Expedia
2. Booking.com
3. Hotel websites (direct bookings)
4. Agoda
5. Hotelbeds (includes GTA and Tourico)
6. Global distribution systems
7. Hostelworld Group
8. Hotusa
9. HotelTonight
10. HotelsCombined
11. Rakuten
12. Priceline.com
“The number of trips taken to USA and Canada reached 96.2 million last year, a rise of 27 percent from 10 years ago. While this growth presents opportunity, the sheer volume also presents hotels with the challenge of acquiring business from a changing mix of potential guests,” said James Bishop, senior director of global demand partnerships at SiteMinder. “Our list shows which channels secured the highest total sales for the country’s hotel economy. Notably, Rakuten’s appearance once again proves the growing value of Japanese travelers to the local hotel market. It is one to watch.”
SiteMinder’s platform processed more than 87 million online bookings in 2018 totaling $28.7 billion in revenue for 30,000 hotels globally.
