Revenue for the first quarter of 2003 was up 3.6%, and average rate declined 0.9%. "The growth in room nights was largely driven by room nights booked by consumers over Internet sites," said Bruce W. Mainzer, senior vice president of marketing for TravelCLICK. 

eMonitor results are compiled from TravelCLICK's comprehensive database, which is the exclusive source of hotel industry electronic distribution data from the Amadeus, Galileo, Sabre, and Worldspan GDSs. Effective with this first quarter report, TravelCLICK�s eMonitor now also includes hotel bookings made through third party travel Internet Web sites powered by Pegasus Solutions.

Travel Agent Component

Travel agent bookings remained the dominant source of GDS and Pegasus hotel e-business, representing 83% of total room nights. The travel agent component of GDS bookings had a 1.1% increase in ADR versus the first quarter of 2002. The average rate for room nights booked through travel agents is 58% higher than the average rate for room nights booked via the Internet. 

Internet Component

Internet (consumer online) room nights displayed growth of 31.3% above the first quarter of 2002. However, average rate was down for GDS powered Internet bookings by 6.3% compared to the first quarter of last year. The ADR of Internet bookings through the GDSs was $76.13. Starting with this first quarter report, eMonitor results are compiled from a larger database that includes Internet bookings made through both GDS and Pegasus powered travel Web sites. The high proportion of wholesale or net rate transactions made through auction or opaque Web sites, such as Priceline and Hotwire, therefore strongly influence these results. 
 

"With the addition of the Pegasus data to our GDS information, we are seeing a different trend in electronic bookings made by travel agents versus consumer online transactions made on third party Web sites," said Mainzer. "While the growth of Internet hotel room nights has been impressive, the difference in average rates for Internet versus travel agent bookings is startling." 

GDS Performance by Market Segment

Results for the first quarter of 2003 by industry market segment are shown below for GDS bookings only. The luxury category outperformed all the other categories in both room night and ADR growth. 

GDS Performance by Market Segment - First Quarter, 2003
 

Top Destination Markets

The top five worldwide destination markets for total GDS and Pegasus third party powered Web room nights during the first quarter of 2003 were: 
 

To receive a free listing of first quarter results by top 50 cities worldwide in electronic bookings, please e-mail [email protected].

About TravelCLICK

TravelCLICK (www.travelclick.net) is the leading provider of solutions that help hotels and other travel industry suppliers maximize net revenue from electronic distribution channels. TravelCLICK's competitive benchmarking reports provide hotels with price and booking performance information unavailable through any other source. The company's exclusive electronic marketing networks allow hotels and other travel related suppliers to target promotional messages to specific travel agents, consumers, and group meeting planners when they are booking travel. The TravelCLICK Interactive division assists hotels with online strategies to increase consumer direct business.

Established in 1996 and headquartered in the Chicago area, TravelCLICK operates in more than 140 countries around the world. The company has over 6,000 clients, including national and international companies such as Accor, Air France, Avis, Best Western International, British Airways, Carlson Hotels Worldwide, Choice Hotels, Fairmont Hotels & Resorts, Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts, Grupo Posadas, Hilton Hotels Corporation, Hyatt Hotels & Resorts, Kempinski Hotels & Resorts, Leading Hotels of the World, Loews Hotels, Lufthansa, Marriott International, The Peninsula Group, The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, SAS, The Savoy Group, Shangri-La Hotels, Sol Melia, Starwood Hotels & Resorts, Thistle Hotels, USAirways, Virgin Atlantic and Wyndham Hotels & Resorts.