TravelCLICK’s eMonitor Shows Luxury Segment Leads Way To Hotel Recovery In Q2

CHICAGO— TravelCLICK’s eMonitor results for the second quarter of 2002 show that while worldwide hotel room nights and revenue booked electronically through the Global Distribution Systems (GDSs) decreased versus the same period last year, booking activity was much improved over the first quarter. The luxury category posted an increase in room nights over the second quarter of 2001, while all other market segments experienced a decline. Luxury’s revenue also increased, rising 3% over last year. The upscale and economy categories were down the most on a revenue basis, with revenues down from the second quarter of last year by 11%. Revenue was off 8% for the mid-scale segment. Overall, the number of room nights booked electronically was down 3.2% from the second quarter of 2001; revenue was off 8%; and average rate dropped 4.9%. Although these year-over-year numbers show a decrease, hotels made a significant improvement in second quarter, as compared to first quarter this year, which had an 18% decline in revenue as compared to first quarter 2001. Electronic room nights year-to-date through the second quarter have decreased by 6.4% from the same time period last year, while revenue is down 13% due to a 6.9% ADR decline. Average length of stay for the 2002 year-to-date period was 2.12 nights, down slightly from last year’s 2.14 nights. eMonitor results are compiled from TravelCLICKs database, which is the source of hotel industry electronic distribution data from the Amadeus, Galileo, Sabre, and Worldspan GDSs. TravelCLICKs data also includes consumer o-line GDS hotel bookings made through major Internet travel sites, such as Travelocity, Priceline and Expedia.