SiteMinder reveals top 12 revenue makers for 2020 hotel bookings

SiteMinder, a global hotel industry leading guest acquisition platform, has unveiled the lists of distribution channels that brought the greatest booking revenue to hotels in 2020 and since the global hotel booking reset began in April.

SiteMinder reports that consumers have changed with SiteMinder’s regional vice president of Asia Pacific, Bradley Haines noting “it is therefore critical that hoteliers assess how and where they sell their rooms, and ensure they embrace the distribution channels—global and local, direct and indirect—with proven effectiveness in securing reservations and revenue.”

Haines adds “this past year in Australia, as a result of the hotel booking reset, we saw local consumers continue to look to the likes of Qantas Hotels and Flight Centre Travel Group to book their accommodation, in spite of those channels traditionally being popular among those seeing packages that included flights.

SiteMinder’s key findings include the increased popularity of Airbnb as a distribution channel for accommodation providers and booking directly through hotel websites.

The lists, which vary across more than 20 of the world’s most established travel destinations, reveal a broader range of consumer choices and a shift away from the consolidation seen in previous years, with 32 instances of distribution channels making their first appearances and 20 instances of distribution channels climbing at least two positions from the prior year.

The annual lists also highlight the sustained growth of direct bookings for hotels, with hotel websites maintaining their top five position in all destinations over the full 2020 year, including in Australia where they ranked as the second-top producer of booking revenue for local hotels. The ranking of hotel websites rose further in more than a third of destinations since April, when hotel bookings dropped to below 10% of 2019 levels as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Key findings included:

• The increased popularity of Airbnb as a distribution channel for accommodation providers, especially since April. Airbnb debuted among the top 12 in Australia and eight other destinations; rose in five destinations over the full year; and surpassed its full-year ranking in 10 destinations, including Australia, since April.

• The strengthening of local and regional distribution channels as a result of restricted international travel. Over the full 2020 year, they comprised around half of the top 12 in each destination and were particularly dominant from the start of the global hotel booking reset. While local and regional distribution channels such as Hero Travel in Australia have not ranked among the top 12 distribution channels over the full 2020 year, they emerged among the top 12 since April.

• The continued relevance of wholesalers, with leading bedbank Hotelbeds among the top 12 in each destination, including Australia, both over the full 2020 year and during the pandemic period.

SiteMinder’s senior director of global demand partnerships, James Bishop advises “the travel disruptions of 2020 levelled the playing field for many distribution channel providers to demonstrate the unique value they provided to consumers and therefore to hotels.

“With international travel restrictions in place and rising cases of Coronavirus around the world, many consumers were drawn to local hotel accommodations where the  direct hotel website has always performed well, or through local booking channels, which, after an initial slump, saw an uptick from pent-up travel demand.

“Many other consumers were drawn to the staycation appeal and perceived security of Airbnb-listed properties. SiteMinder’s lists of the top 12 hotel booking revenue makers are testament to real changes in people’s travel behaviour and preferences during this time.”

In Australia, the top 12 hotel booking channels in 2020, based on total gross revenue made for all users of SiteMinder’s platform, were:

OVER THE FULL 2020 YEAR

1.            Booking.com

2.            Hotel websites (direct bookings)

3.            Expedia Group

4.            Global distribution systems

5.            Agoda

6.            Qantas Hotels

7.            AOT Group

8.            Hotelbeds

9.            Airbnb

10.          HRS Australasia (formerly Lido)

11.          Flight Centre Travel Group

12.          need it now       

SINCE THE HOTEL BOOKING RESET (APR-DEC 2020)

1.            Booking.com

2.            Hotel websites (direct bookings)

3.            Expedia Group

4.            Global distribution systems

5.            Agoda

6.            Qantas Hotels

7.            Airbnb

8.            AOT Group

9.            Hotelbeds

10.          HRS Australasia (formerly Lido)

11.          Flight Centre Travel Group

12.          Hero Travel

SiteMinder has earned the trust of more than 35,000 hotels, across 160 countries, to generate in excess of 100 million reservations worth over $47 billion in revenue for hotels each year.
For more information, visit www.siteminder.com.