Airbnb gaining share in hotel distribution analysis

The COVID-19 pandemic has shifted the way consumers research and book travel, and hotels are responding by being more strategic about how they market and sell their rooms, making use of direct - and multiple indirect - revenue streams. 

That’s one of the key findings from the latest analysis by SiteMinder about the top 12 hotel distribution channels in 21 of the world’s most popular tourism destinations globally during 2021. 

Notably the data, outlined in a SiteMinder e-book publishing today, includes 29 channels that are new to the lists, such as ezTravel in Asia, Hero Travel in Australia, Off Peak Luxury in the United Kingdom and HotelsCombined in the United States.

“Where hotels were once able to depend on a few proven channels to distribute their rooms, the last two years have forced them to approach online commerce more holistically and to consider all possible ways to open up their revenue streams to reach the new traveler – one that is incredibly dynamic in preferences, behavior and expectations,” says James Bishop, senior director of global ecosystem at SiteMinder.

“We as an industry have long promoted the benefits of a diversified online strategy for hotels; our data is testament that hotels now understand this very seriously, perhaps for the first time.”

Global leaders

The major global distribution channels continue to top the lists. Booking.com was the leading channel in 17 of the 21 markets, with Expedia Group the top revenue generator for hotels in the U.S. and Canada, Traveloka leading in Indonesia and Agoda in the Philippines. 

And furthering a trend seen in the 2020 report, Airbnb continued to increase the share of bookings it drives for hotels in several markets.  

In 2021, the platform moved up the ranks in 12 markets and debuted in three – Indonesia, the Middle East and Spain, where it came in at eighth place.

“What our data shows is that [Airbnb] has become a very viable way for traditional accommodation providers to market, sell and grow their business,” Bishop says. 

Direct bookings also continued to grow in 2021.

According to SiteMinder, direct bookings are now one of the top two revenue drivers in 12 of the 21 markets analyzed, up from five in 2020 and two in 2019. 

“It is clear that we are now living in a new era of hotel guest - the era of the ‘dynamic traveler’ - and online commerce technology is enabling hotels to respond accordingly,” Bishop says.

“The appetite for direct bookings, for example, is only as good as the investment that hotels put into it and our data highlights that hotels are, indeed, growing their investments in this space - whether it be through their website designs, booking engines and payment options, and the specialist conversion tools they connect with, or their metasearch strategies and the support they gain through local hotel consultants.”

Additional channels

The analysis also finds some wholesalers continue to perform well, with Hotelbeds among the top 12 in each of the 21 destinations, and one of two WebBeds’ brands - Sunhotels and Destinations of the World - included in nine markets. 

Global distribution systems also showed strength, rising two or more positions in seven markets, such as Asia, Canada, Mexico and the Netherlands, which SiteMinder attributes in part to the increased relevance of travel agents “due to constantly changing rules and restrictions.” 

So what can hotels learn from the analysis? SiteMinder advises hotels to broaden their reach by using regional channels that can attract the growing domestic travel audience and to drive more direct bookings by creating incentives that draw viewers from online travel agencies to the brand.com site, and then creating a simple reservation process.