STAAH, a leading technology company helping hoteliers unlock their full revenue potential, has unveiled its list of distribution channels that brought the highest number of bookings to hotels over the past year. The list is based on hotel reservations that have passed through the STAAH channel manager across its network of 500+ integrations across the world.
Reaffirming the value of having a diversified hotel distribution strategy, the lists of the top-performing booking channels for different regions feature a range of both B2B and household consumer channels – from OTAs to hotel websites, wholesalers and global distribution systems.
“Our data highlights the willingness of hoteliers to adopt both new and established methods to attract modern guests, as they pursue a more holistic hotel commerce strategy to sell, market, manage and grow their business,” says Tarun Joukani, Director, STAAH.
Highlights of the top distribution channels across the regions include:
- Continued dominance of OTAs that influence every stage of trip planning and booking. Global giants, including Booking.com, Expedia and Agoda feature high. Regionally strong and niche OTAs such as GoMMT in India and Sri Lanka, Traveloka and Tiket.com in Southeast Asia and Pitchup.com in United Kingdom also make the top list. Trip.com has made gains across multiple regions as well as leading bed bank, Hotelbeds. Airbnb continues to feature on the top 10 list, although it slipped in rankings across regions.
- Direct bookings via STAAH SwiftBook are inching closer to the top spot, holding the number two rank in New Zealand, number four in India and United Kingdom. The rise of direct bookings reflects the grown investments among hotels in their websites, including their booking engines and payment options, and the specialist conversion tools they connect with.
- Strong growth in B2B OTAs, including Tourplan in New Zealand and Hotelbeds in multiple regions. STAAH GDS growth in almost every region shows global distribution systems are consistently performing well.
- Almost every region has a new cohort of distribution channels making it to the top list, showcasing the openness of hotel businesses to employ a broader, multichannel approach as a way of connecting with more niche or harder-to-reach customer segments.
“We’re living in a new era of hotel guest – travellers who are more evolved when it comes to booking behaviours and preferences,” says Tarun. “Accommodation providers that continue to adopt a more holistic online commerce strategy, consisting of both new and established methods, can expect to connect better with these guests and get ahead of the curve.”
Dive into the detailed infographics below to see which distribution channels led the way in driving revenue for hotels globally over the past year.