Hotel Rates Booked Online Outpace Industry Growth

Average daily rates from hotel rooms booked online increased by a higher degree than did the overall industry average, according to data compiled by PricewaterhouseCoopers from Smith Travel Research, TravelClick and PhoCusWright.

Rates for Internet bookings increased 8.7 percent year over year in 2006, compared with an estimated 6.8 percent increase for room rates overall, the data indicated. Non-Internet bookings increased 6.5 percent, and 2006 was the third year in a row that Internet-booked rates outpaced those booked without the Internet.

The biggest increase for Internet bookings was the 8.9 percent increase among opaque distribution channels—reservation sources like Priceline that reveal the identity of the booked hotel only after a reservation has been placed. The largest increase overall, 10 percent, was for those rates booked through central reservation systems directly from hotels. Global distribution system bookings had the lowest rate of increase at 3.7 percent.

Among all distribution channels, hotel-branded Web sites had the largest percentage increase in the number of reservations, according to the report. Bjorn Hanson, principal of PwC's hospitality and leisure practice, said brands have been regaining control of distribution through increased occupancy, quality Web sites, price guarantees, new brands and enhanced loyalty programs.