Online travel agencies and other intermediaries, such as tour operators and destination management companies, regained ground in 2022, according to a report.

SiteMinder has crunched data from more than 100 million reservations last year to reveal Booking.com as the most popular booking channel across its Top 12 lists of highest booking revenue sources.

Overall, OTAs were ranked in the top two positions in 79% of SiteMinder’s Top 12 lists in 2022, climbing from 37% of lists in 2021.

Expedia Group websites are ranked second in the list of top booking channels in large European markets such as Germany and the United Kingdom, while in Spain hotel websites take the number two slot.

The report further reveals that Expedia Group made gains in 47% of lists, while Booking.com rose in the rankings of 21% of lists.

SiteMinder’s Hotel Booking Trends report also finds that travelers continued to book direct with hotels last year with the research revealing hotel websites globally were more important as a revenue source in 2022 than in 2019.

Hotel direct bookings had risen in almost 50% of markets in 2021 and were down in 42% of markets in booking channel lists in 2022. However, hotel direct was on a par with 2019 in 72% of markets and still ahead in 28%.

Hotels bookings via global distribution systems (GDS) increased with the resumption of business travel in 2022 with the channel ranking higher in the Top 12 list across 47% of travel markets analyzed.

The GDS channel also re-entered the top five in France and Germany for the first time since 2018, according to the report.

Airbnb gained further ground as a booking channel in the report with the accommodation site ranking on 89% of 2022’s Top 12 lists compared with 28% in 2019.

In about a third of destinations analyzed, Airbnb ranks seventh in the lists of highest booking revenue sources.

Lead times and stays lengthening

The report also reveals consumer booking behavior with lead times lengthening by 38% compared with 2021. 

Hotel bookings were made 30 days in advance on average globally in 2022, which compares to 36 days in 2019.

Travelers also stayed longer with the average length of stay increasing slightly in 2022 to 1.93 nights. 

And booking cancellations decreased by 17% in 2022 compared with 2021 with properties in Ireland experiencing the highest rate and hotels in Indonesia the lowest rate.

Meanwhile, reservation volumes hit 104% of 2019 levels globally despite a 24% increase in average daily room rates to $117.

James Bishop, vice president of ecosystem and strategic partnerships at SiteMinder, says: “Our new Hotel Booking Trends analysis shows a clear shift in the accommodation industry toward a holistic hotel commerce strategy that ensures hotels are able to attract the right guests at the right time. From our Top 12 lists, we see hoteliers globally adopting new and established channels — both direct and indirect — to truly optimize their distribution approach, allowing hoteliers to be seen and booked according to evolving seasonality and changing traveler preferences.”

SiteMinder also reports an acceleration in outbound bookings from China in early 2023 since the reopening of borders.

The company’s most recent data reveals a 37% increase in February compared with mid-December with bookings to hotels in Thailand and Vietnam increasing 86% and 78% respectively.

by Phocuswire