Luxury Hotels Sees Increase In Online Sales

NEW YORK— The Leading Hotels of the World said it is seeing phenomenal growth in bookings on line at average daily rates of $300 for its 380 luxury hotels and resorts worldwide— at rates $10 higher than other booking sources. With average sales of $700 per booking for a 2.3 average stay, Leading’s website, www.lhw.com, has become one of the most successful luxury travel sites, said the company. Executives at Leading reported year-over-year growth (2001 vs. 2000) of 200%, with average daily room rates over $300 per night. Reservations have more than doubled from 7,017 in 2000 to 15,085 as of November 30, 2001, and online sales have doubled from $5.9 million in 2000 to $11.2 million for the same period in 2001— a 102% increase in revenues since 2001, said the company. Leading has also reported approximately 2,000 confirmed bookings and 4 million page views on its site monthly. In February 2001 Leading formed a joint venture called Leading Interactive Reservations which has jump-started online innovations from Leading, the world’s leading luxury hotel purveyor. Leading Interactive has not only linked member hotels transactionally with hotel web sites, but has also recently launched LuxRes.com, a luxury online travel resource, provides a diverse selection of 4-plus and 5-star hotels to include last minute rates and distressed inventory from luxury hotels around the world. The website, www.luxres.com, which was officially launched November 16, is the “only one stop shopping website for reduced rates for truly luxury properties worldwide,” said Evelyne Sansaricq, vice president of Leading Interactive Reservations. LuxRes.com is exclusively four-plus and five-star properties whose status will be continually monitored by Leading Interactive through guest comments and other ranking sources. Additional luxury travel services such as limousine, first and business class air travel and car rentals, as well as luxury tours will be offered on the by LuxRes.com as well. “We will have approximately 2,000 hotels on this site within the next 12 months,” said Sansaricq. Month over month bookings are dramatically increasing, said the company. November 2001 posted a 308% growth rate over November 2000 and represented 6% of total reservations, up from 2% in 2000. Leading Hotels said it expects $25 million in sales from its website in 2002.