TravelCLICK‘s eMonitor results for the fourth quarter of 2003 show that worldwide hotel room nights booked electronically through the Global Distribution Systems (GDS) and key Internet sites grew 6.3%. Revenue jumped 10.3%, and average daily rate (ADR) rose 3.8% compared to the fourth quarter of 2002.
The positive year-over-year showing in the fourth quarter of 2003 resulted in electronic room nights for all of 2003 finishing with an upswing of 3.3% versus 2002, and an overall increase in ADR by 0.9%. This fueled a 4.2% increase in 2003 electronic revenue compared to 2002.

“Travel agent bookings remained the leading component of hotel GDS e-commerce for Q4 and 2003, and now represent 81% of the total GDS room nights. Travel agents also produce more profitable bookings, with an ADR that is 40% higher than those which originate from Internet sites,” said Kristina Paider, director of marketing for TravelCLICK. “The consumer Internet channel experienced the highest growth in room nights, and now represents 19% of all GDS e-commerce bookings.”

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. TravelCLICK’s eMonitor data also includes hotel bookings made through third-party Internet Web sites powered by Pegasus Solutions. 

Travel Agent Component

Travel agents remained the dominant source of hotel e-commerce, generating 81% of total GDS room nights for both the fourth quarter and total year. Viewed against the fourth quarter of 2002, the travel agent component of GDS bookings increased at a 1.6% rate in room nights and 5.1% in ADR. On a year-to-date basis, travel agent booked room nights were down slightly by 2% from 2002, while the average daily rate increased slightly by 2.2%.

Internet Component

Internet (consumer online) room nights displayed growth of 32.1% versus the fourth quarter of 2002. Average rate was also up for GDS and Pegasus-powered Internet bookings by 3.7% compared to the fourth quarter of last year. The ADR of Internet bookings through the GDSs and Pegasus was $92.06.

The Internet component displayed the highest growth in room nights with an increase of 34.7% over the full year of 2003. At the same time, average rate increased slightly at 1.1%, and revenue from this channel increased by 36.2% for the year. 
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