New Data Shows Shift to Loyalty Program Reservations
TravelClick, an Amadeus company, has released new data from the company’s quarterly North American Distribution Review (NADR) encompassing Q3 2019 performance and Q4 2019 projections. According to the data, rooms sold through a hotel’s website (Brand.com), online travel agencies (OTAs), and global distribution channels (GDS) were ahead by 5.9%, 3.5%, and 1.9% respectively in Q3 2019 compared to the same time last year. The Q4 2019 outlook for hotel websites and OTAs are ahead at 7.1% and 5.4%. GDS, central reservation office (CRO) and hotel direct (e.g. walk-ins, phone reservations) demand have slowed -0.8%, -9.5% and -11.4%, respectively, from a year ago.
Across all distribution channels, the average daily rate (ADR) for Q3 2019 slowed -1.2% over the previous year. ADR for Q4 2019 is also decreasing for Brand.com, GDS, CRO, and OTA by -0.2%, -1.4%, -2.2%, and -3.1% respectively. In Q4 2019, the loyalty program customer segment shows an uptick in room nights of 5.7% and ADR is flat 0.0% compared to a year ago. Non-loyalty customer demand for Q4 is down -5.4% and ADR is down -1.1% compared to a year ago.
“For the first time in recent years there’s new evidence of a significant channel shift to Brand.com hotel bookings,” explains John Hach, Senior Industry Analyst, TravelClick. “The Q4 2019 results show accelerated declines in both central reservation office and hotel direct bookings. Concurrently there is an uptick in hotel loyalty program reservations which is good news for major brands with membership reward programs.”
“The global distribution systems continue to be a major contributor to successful hotel channel management strategies. In addition to the worldwide presence of global distribution systems, average daily rates remain steady and provide instant access to travel agent bookings not available on other online channels,” Hach added.
The TravelClick NADR is based on recent performance and outlook data for 25 major North American markets, comprising 301 million annual room nights and $53 billion in annual room revenue.