NASHVILLE, Tennessee—Online travel agencies cost the U.S. hotel industry approximately US$2.5 billion during 2010, according to preliminary findings from the AH&LA and STR’s hotel distribution analysis and further analysis conduct by Tourism Economics.
The US$2.5-billion tally assumes all of the rooms sold via OTAs during 2010 would instead be sold on brand.com or property direct. That number does not include the costs associated with booking on the brand.com or property-direct channels.
The booking study, for which finalized data will be published in September by the HSMAI Foundation, was the focus of discussion Wednesday during a general session at the Third Annual Hotel Data Conference, held at the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center in Nashville, Tennessee. The report aims to analyze the costs and benefits of various distribution channels, such as OTAs, brand.com, voice, property direct and GDS.
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