Worldwide hotel room nights booked electronically through GDS and key internet sites increased 10.5% over the same time last year, an indication of a “solid recovery” for the industry, according to Bruce W. Mainzer, senior vice president of marketing for TravelCLICK.
“Room nights booked by travel agents were down 7% in the previous quarter, so this improvement along with the increase in ADRs for travel agent GDC bookings demonstrate a strong turnaround,” he said.
Travel CLICK’s eMonitor survey found travel agent bookings remained the dominant source of GDS and Pegasus hotel e-business, representing 72% of total room nights.
The travel agent component of GDS bookings had a 1.8% increase in ADR versus the third quarter of 2003. The average rate for room nights booked through travel agents is 41% higher than the average rate for room nights booked via the internet, according to the survey.
The Chicago-based TravelCLICK is a provider of solutions that help hotels and other travel industry suppliers maximize net revenues from electronic distribution channels.
