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Reservations by 24% 2004 YTD; TravelCLICK Reports eTRAK Results from 30 Leading Brands |
CHICAGO (January 24, 2005) � TravelCLICK today
released its year-to-date results through third quarter from the company�s
eTRAK report, demonstrating that Internet reservations received at the
central reservation offices (CROs) of the major hotel brands grew 23.5%
in the first three quarters of 2004 versus the same time period in 2003.
The report noted that brand websites were the source of 71.3% of the brands�
centrally booked Internet reservations.
eTRAK is a quarterly benchmarking report that allows hotel chains to track booking trends on the Internet and GDS. The Q1-Q3 2004 eTRAK report highlights both the growth of electronic hotel bookings on the Internet and the continuing importance of GDS e-commerce for hotel brands and chains. eTRAK shows that 35.2% of CRO reservations come through GDS channels, while Internet sites contribute 30.6%. Results from this study may differ from overall hospitality industry trends on the Internet and GDS because eTRAK reflects only the performance of 30 major brands. The conclusions, however, are directional for the industry as a whole. "Electronic channels continue to be the major source of CRO bookings. eTRAK results indicate that hoteliers are increasingly driving traffic to and realizing gains from their hotels� brand sites, which saw one of the highest percent changes in reservations for the first three quarters of 2004," said Ray Cohen, president and co-CEO for TravelCLICK. The 30 major brands participating in this survey reported that, on average,
21.8% percent of their CRO reservations were received from their brand
website in Q1-Q3 of 2004 (i.e. marriott.com, hilton.com, etc.), while 3.9%
of CRO reservations were sourced from third party retail Internet sites
and 2.6% from merchant sites. Slightly more than one-third, or 34.1%, of
CRO reservations were made via phone.
Q1�Q3 2004
The top ten Internet sites for 2004 YTD hotel bookings to brand CROs, in order, were: Priceline, Expedia Retail, Expedia Merchant, Hotels.com, Travelocity Retail, Travelocity Merchant, TravelNow, Hotwire, Orbitz Retail and USA Hotelguide. The eTRAK report covers all central reservation office booking results including GDS, voice, and Internet bookings. The report allows subscribers to compare their own performance versus their direct competitors and the industry in general. The unique information contained in eTRAK is intended to help hotel companies decide e-commerce priorities, such as where to invest their Internet advertising dollars and which sites create the best returns. For more information about TravelCLICK�s eTRAK report, email [email protected]. 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 Chicago, TravelCLICK has over 8,000 customers in more than 140 countries around the world. |
TravelCLICK
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