Dramatic Shift from Offline to Online Distribution

The article I have just seen on the Internet strongly supports the Information given in the Slideshare below.  Internet has become the most important distribution channel for Hospitality with nearly 54 % of overall bookings for the top 30 hotel brands in United States coming from the Internet channel. 

Furthermore, the author states that Direct Online Channel is winning over the Indirect Channel: the author estimates for the hospitality industry in North America, the direct online channel contribution in 2010 of 60% vs. 40% for the indirect online channel.

In 2009 in North America, top 30 hotel brands reported that 71% of online CRS bookings came from their own websites, while 29% came from the Online Travel Agencies —OTAs like Expedia, Orbitz, Priceline, etc. As we can see OTA market share grew significantly for Hospitality Industry.

Here is an overview of the Direct vs. Indirect Online Channel utilization in the main travel sectors.

It becomes obvious from the table that Hospitality is standing behind the airline and car rental sectors as far as direct online channel practices are concerned.  To read the article please click here:

http://www.travelindex.com/blog/node/28

The article says that it is much more cost effective for a hotel to sell the rooms on Direct channel.

	Direct	Indirect
Hospitality: Top 30 Hotel Chains   Source: eTRAK	70.9%	29.1%
Hospitality: Overall for the Industry   Source: HeBS	60.0%	40.0%
Airlines: Jet Blue	95.0%	5.0%
Airlines: Overall for the industry	68.0%	32.0%
Car Rental	68.0%	32.0%
Cruise Lines	39.0%	61.0%