Sales in Online Channels Grew in the Swiss Hospitality Sector Despite Economic Downturn in 2009

Transcription

1 Distribution Channels in Swiss Hotels Sales in Online Channels Grew in the Swiss Hospitality Sector Despite Economic Downturn in 2009 Results of an online survey among members of the Swiss Hotel Association (hotelleriesuisse) Roland Schegg, Michael Fux and Thomas Allemann / / 1 April 2010

2 The Study Objective: Monitoring of booking trends on different distribution channels in the Swiss hospitality sector. Research instrument: online survey Administration: Over 2300 hotels have been contacted in January 2010 by , all members of the Swiss Hotel Association (hotelleriesuisse). Relaunch of the survey in March Response rate: 224 replies ~10 percent Similar studies have been conducted already in the past: 2003, 2005, 2007,

3 Content Executive Summary Distribution channels in Swiss hotels Internet Distribution Systems (IDS) used Management tools in distribution 3

4 Content Executive Summary Distribution channels in Swiss hotels Internet Distribution Systems (IDS) used Management tools in distribution 4

5 Executive Summary (I) Direct booking channels (telephone, fax, walk-ins, , Web form) are still dominant for Swiss hotels with 71,1 percent of overall bookings (2008: 75,4%) hoteliers have large control over distribution. On average more than half of all bookings (52,7%) are mediated through electronic channels ( , Web form, real-time booking, Global Distribution Systems (GDS) and Internet Distribution Systems (IDS)). 50 percent of them are mediated through percent of hotels have a real-time booking system on their own website, but realize on 4,4 percent of all sales through this channel. Real-time booking channels have a market share of 17 percent (booking engine on own Website 4,4%, GDS 2% and IDS 10,6%), an increase of 5 percent compared to

6 Executive Summary (II) One out of five hotels uses a channel manager to manage the different online channels. Nearly 80 percent of hotels in the survey spend less than 5 hours a week for the management of the online distribution channels. A channel manager is a system which supports the hotels in the management of room availabilities and rates in the different online distribution channels. Internet Distribution Systems (IDS) have significantly increased their market share, from 5,7 percent in 2008 to 10,7 percent in This is probably due to a more active online distribution sales strategy during the economic crises when hotels tried to compensate for foreseen losses. 6

7 Executive Summary (III) Booking.com, Hotel Reservation System (HRS), Switzerland Travel Centre (STC) and destination management systems of local destinations are the most frequently used IDS in the Swiss hospitality sector. On average a Swiss hotels uses 5 IDS channels. The Top 5 IDS (Booking.com, HRS, hotel.de, Expedia resp. hotels.com, Venere) could increase their market share by 16 percent on average compared to A rough estimation of real online sales in the Swiss hotel sector based on data from our survey results in an overall turnover of probably more than 800 Million CHF in 2009 and commission costs of some 80 Million CHF (out of 160 Mio in total). 7

8 Content Executive Summary Distribution channels in Swiss hotels Internet Distribution Systems (IDS) used Management tools in distribution 8

9 Shares of booking channels Global Distribution Systems (GDS) Industry/trade associations Event/conference organizer 2009 (n=198) 2008 (n=184) 2006 (n=100) 2005 (n=94) 2002 (n=202) Chains and affiliations Local/regional/national tourism organisation Tour operator Travel agency Internet Distribution Systems (IDS) Own Website (form and realtime booking) Traditional channels (telephone, fax, letter) 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45% 9

10 Booking channels in Swiss hotels in Share of channel in % Switzerland (n=198) Valais (n=43) Graubünden (n=35) Telephone, fax, letter 25,0 20,0 25,6 Walk-ins 6,2 6,5 5,9 27,4 31,5 32,5 Reservation form on hotel website 8,3 9,0 12,8 Real time booking on hotel website 4,4 3,5 2,8 Internet Distribution Systems (IDS) 10,6 9,8 6,1 Travel agency 3,8 5,1 4,1 Tour operator 3,6 8,0 2,4 Local tourism organisation 2,9 3,2 3,4 Regional tourism organisation 1,2 0,7 1,7 National tourism organisation 1,0 0,5 1,8 Chains and affiliations 0,9 0,7 0,2 Event organizer 1,0 0,6 0,2 Conference organizer 1,4 0,4 0,6 Industry/trade associations 0,2 <0,1 0,0 Global Distribution Systems (GDS) 2,0 0,4 <0,1

11 Booking options on own hotel website Real time booking without direct link to PMS* Real time booking with direct link to PMS* Booking request form on hotel website Booking request per No booking possibility on website 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 11 * Property Management System (PMS) / Front Office Software

12 Real time booking systems used by Swiss hotels 2009 (n=164) 2008 (n=123) Number % on total Number % on total GHIX Superbooking 28 17% 12 10% STC (Switzerland Travel Center) 17 10% 17 14% GlobRes (Global Reservation Agent) 14 9% 18 15% Reconline 14 9% 7 6% Booking.com 13 8% 3 2% Protel (rebagdata) 11 7% 9 7% Bookingsystem.ch (Infonautics) 7 4% 8 7% Fidelio (myfidelio.net) 7 4% 7 6% Synergy Booking Engine (ActiveMetrics) 5 3% 4 3% Other Systems 48 29% 38 2% 12

13 Content Executive Summary Distribution channels in Swiss hotels Internet Distribution Systems (IDS) used Management tools in distribution 13

14 Internet Distribution Systems used by Swiss hotels More than one answers possible Number % on total Number % on total Booking.com ,3% ,7% Hotel Reservation System (HRS) ,1% ,8% myswitzerland.com / Switzerland Travel Centre (STC) ,2% ,9% Website of tourism organisation ,4% ,9% hotel.de 97 43,3% 15 7,2% Expedia and hotels.com 92 41,1% 65 31,3% Venere 85 37,9% 63 30,3% hotel.ch 66 29,5% 46 22,1% ebookers 50 22,3% 24 11,5% Travelocity 36 16,1% 30 14,4% Lastminute 33 14,7% 22 10,6% ebay 26 11,6% 4 1,9% Tiscover 24 10,7% 21 10,1% Global Hotel Index (GHIX) 22 9,8% 24 11,5% Hotelguide.com 20 8,9% 19 9,1% Opodo 20 8,9% 17 8,2% TOMAS 20 8,9% 1 0,4% HostelBookers 15 6,7% 4 1,9% Rates to go 3 1,4% 3 1,4% Others 56 25,0% 50 24,0% 14 Fett markierte Plattformen konnten 2009 im Vergleich zu 2008 ein Wachstum von mehr als 5 Prozent verzeichnen.

15 Number of Internet Distribution Systems channels used by a hotel 35 Mean = 5,9 / Median = 5,0 / Min. = 1,0 / Max. = 15, Number of hotels Number of IDS used by a hotel 15

16 Content Executive Summary Distribution channels in Swiss hotels Internet Distribution Systems (IDS) used Management tools in distribution 16

17 Use of a channel manager for online distribution 12% 18% A channel manager is a system which supports the hotels in the management of room availabilities and rates in the different online distribution channels. 70% Yes No I don t know 17

18 Average time spent for the management of online distribution channels Time spent per week 3% 7% 2% 14% 31% Mean = 4,4 hours Median = 2,0 hours Min. = 0 hours Max. = 140 hours 43% no time spent less than 2h from 2h to 5h from 5h to 10h from 10 to 20h 20h and more 18

19 Importance of Yield Management 12% 20% 25% 11% 15% 17% Yes, we use it already Yes, important No issue for my property Yes, very important Interesting I don't know 19

20 Contact Roland Schegg University of Applied Sciences of Western Switzerland Valais (HES-SO Valais Wallis), Institute of Tourism TechnoArk Sierre (Switzerland) Tel. +41 (0) roland.schegg@hevs.ch iet.hevs.ch / / Bachelor of Science HES-SO in Tourism MBA Major in Tourism & Hotel Management Thomas Allemann hotelleriesuisse (Swiss Hotel Association) Monbijoustrasse Berne (Switzerland) Tel. +41 (0) thomas.allemann@hotelleriesuisse.ch 20