Hotel room nights booked electronically through the Global Distribution Systems (GDS) and key Internet sites were also up 5.8% versus the same period last year. 

Electronic room nights year-to-date through the third quarter increased by 8.8% from the same time period last year, revenue was up 15.4%, and ADR increased by 6%. Average length of stay for the 2004 year-to-date period was 2.12 nights, slightly higher than last year's 2.10 nights. 

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 GDS. TravelCLICK's eMonitor also includes hotel bookings made through third-party travel Internet websites powered by Pegasus Solutions. 

Travel Agent Component 

Travel agent bookings remained the dominant source of GDS and Pegasus hotel e-business, representing 77.4% of total room nights. The travel agent component of GDS bookings had a 6.2% increase in ADR versus the third quarter of 2003. Travel agents continued to be a key source of higher rate business for hotels. The average rate for room nights booked through travel agents was 31.6% higher than the average rate for room nights booked via the Internet. 

On a year-to-date basis, travel agent hotel bookings via the GDS were up 7.7% from the same period in 2003. 

Internet Component 

Internet (consumer online) room nights displayed growth of 9.8% above the third quarter of 2003. ADR was up for GDS-powered and Pegasus Internet bookings by 6.3% compared to the prior year. 

Year to date, the Internet component displayed a 13.3% growth in room nights compared to the first nine months of 2003. ADR was up 6.8%, which led to a 21% increase in revenue for 2004 year-to-date through the third quarter. 

"Contributing to the increase in electronic bookings worldwide, was the luxury hotel market with nearly an 11% growth in room nights. The third quarter results also once again demonstrated the booking strength of the GDS channel, which continues to outperform expectations in terms of year-over-year percentage growth and ADR," said John Hach, vice president and product manager of e-marketing products for TravelCLICK. 

GDS Performance by Market Segment

Results for the third quarter of 2004 by industry market segment are shown below for GDS bookings only. The luxury, upscale and mid-scale segments all had an increase in both room nights and ADR compared to last year, while the economy segment had a slight decrease in room nights but an increase in ADR versus last year. 

Top Destination Markets

The top five worldwide destination markets for total GDS-powered and Pegasus third-party web room nights during the third quarter of 2004 were: 

To receive a free listing of third quarter results by top 50 cities worldwide in electronic bookings, please e-mail [email protected]. Up-to-date GDS hotel booking summaries by individual local market are always available for downloading on TravelCLICK's website at www.travelclick.net. 

About TravelCLICK TravelCLICK (www.travelclick.net) is the leading provider of solutions that help hotels and other travel industry suppliers maximize profits from electronic distribution channels. The company�s iHotelier booking engine platform and website marketing programs enable hotels to better execute strategies that increase business into their own websites. TravelCLICK's competitive benchmarking reports provide hotels with price and booking performance information, and the company's exclusive electronic marketing networks allow hotels and other travel related suppliers to target promotional messages to specific travel agents and consumers when they are booking travel. 

Established in 1996 and headquartered in the Chicago area, TravelCLICK has over 7500 customers in more than 140 countries around the world.