Chicago based Travelclick recently posted 3rd quarter results for electronic bookings. The term “electronic bookings” includes bookings made via the GDS and via Pegasus, whether by a traditional travel agent or via the internet, which primarily includes OTA bookings. It excludes consumer direct bookings made via the hotelier’s own internal system and excludes merchant model bookings, which are generally made via the OTA’s own inventory system against a block of rooms versus live inventory access via a GDS or Pegasus.
The year to date results show that bookings via the Consumer Internet channel are declining year over year at a rate much greater than their travel agent counterparts. When matched against the traffic statistics in yesterday’s blog, this is not surprising.
In the 1st quarter, consumer internet room nights were down 6.9%, while travel agent bookings were up 3.2%. Travel agents produced an average daily room rate $58.78 higher than consumer internet bookings, which were both up year over year. As a result, overall revenues from the consumer internet channel were up .2% and travel agent revenues were up 13.1%
In the 2nd quarter, consumer internet room nights were down 22.7% and travel agent bookings were up 3.5%. Travel agents produced an average daily room rate $62.20 higher than consumer internet bookings, which were both up year over year. Due to the rate of the internet decline, overall revenues from the consumer internet channel were down 16.7%. Travel agent revenues were up 12.5%.
In the 3rd quarter, consumer internet room night were down 36.2% and travel agent bookings declined for the first time since 2003, by .3%. Travel agents produced an average daily room rate $48.07 higher than consumer internet bookings. Consumer internet channel revenues were down 30% and travel agent revenues were up 3.5%.
Now will someone please remind me why are we trying to shift business from the travel agency/GDS channel to consumer direct?
Chicke Fitzgerald