Chicago-based Travelclick recently posted third 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 hoteliers' own internal systems and excludes merchant model bookings, which are generally made via the OTAs' 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. This is not surprising in light of the traffic trends for supplier sites versus OTA sites (as reported by Compete).
In the first quarter, consumer Internet room nights were down 6.9 percent, while travel agent bookings were up 3.2 percent. 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 0.2 percent and travel agent revenues were up 13.1 percent.
In the second quarter, consumer Internet room nights were down 22.7 percent and travel agent bookings were up 3.5 percent. 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 percent. Travel agent revenues were up 12.5 percent.
In the third quarter, consumer Internet room night were down 36.2 percent and travel agent bookings declined for the first time since 2003, by 0.3 percent. Travel agents produced an average daily room rate $48.07 higher than consumer Internet bookings. Consumer Internet channel revenues were down 30 percent and travel agent revenues were up 3.5 percent.
Now will someone please remind me why are we trying to shift business from the travel agency/GDS channel to consumer direct?