BANGKOK, 3 February 2021: Booking.com and Agoda topped SiteMinder’s 2020 list of top booking channels in the Thailand hotel market.
A leading hotel industry guest acquisition platform, Siteminder updated its annual lists of distribution channels that brought the highest booking revenue to hotels in 2020.
It took into account the lockdown and global hotel booking reset began last April.
The lists, which vary across more than 20 of the world’s most established travel destinations, reveal a broader range of consumer choices and a shift away from the consolidation seen in previous years, with 32 instances of distribution channels making their first appearances and 20 instances of distribution channels climbing at least two positions from the prior year.
Here’s Thailand, the top 12 hotel booking channels in 2020, based on total gross revenue generated for all users of SiteMinder’s platform.
Top booking sites for the entire year
1. Booking.com
2. Agoda
3. Hotel websites (direct bookings)
4. Expedia Group
5. Hotelbeds
6. Trip.com
7. Traveloka
8. Goibibo & MakeMyTrip
9. Fusion Holidays
10. Global distribution systems
11. WebBeds – Destinations of the World
12. Mr & Mrs Smith
Since the hotel booking reset ( April to December)
1. Agoda
2. Booking.com
3. Hotel websites (direct bookings)
4. Expedia Group
5. Hotelbeds
6. Traveloka
7. Trip.com
8. Global distribution systems
9. Mr & Mrs Smith
10. WebBeds – Destinations of the World
11. WebBeds – Sunhotels
12. Beds4Travel
SiteMinder’s regional vice president of Asia Pacific, Bradley Haines, noted: “This past year in Thailand, as a result of the hotel booking reset, we naturally saw a decline in international guests and, subsequently, a greater relevance of regional players such as Traveloka.
“Additionally, we saw the debut of Mr & Mrs Smith in our top 12 list, which is a channel used by travellers seeking boutique and luxury hotels. What this reflects is Thailand’s deep attempts to attract travellers with a higher net worth and the ability to take extended stays, beyond one month.
“Consumers have changed. It is therefore critical that hoteliers assess how and where they sell their rooms and ensure they embrace the distribution channels — global and local, direct and indirect — with proven effectiveness in securing reservations and revenue.”
The annual lists also highlight the sustained growth of direct bookings for hotels, with hotel websites maintaining their top-five position in all destinations over the full 2020 year, including in Thailand where they ranked as the third top producer of booking revenue for local hotels. The ranking of hotel websites rose further in more than a third of destinations since April when hotel bookings dropped to below 10% of 2019 levels as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Other key findings included:
● The strengthening of regional distribution channels, such as Traveloka, as a result of restricted international travel. Over the full 2020 year, they comprised around a third of the top 12 in Thailand and many gained in strength from the start of the global hotel booking reset.
● The continued relevance of wholesalers, with leading bedbank Hotelbeds among the top 12 in each destination, including Thailand, both over the full 2020 year and during the pandemic period. WebBeds was also among the top 12 in Thailand and seven other destinations since April.
“The travel disruptions of 2020 levelled the playing field for many distribution channel providers to demonstrate the unique value they provided to consumers and therefore to hotels,” says SiteMinder’s senior director of global demand partnerships, James Bishop. “With international travel restrictions in place and rising cases of coronavirus around the world, many consumers were drawn to local hotel accommodations where the direct hotel website has always performed well, or through local booking channels, which, after an initial slump, saw an uptick from pent-up travel demand.
“Many other consumers were drawn to the staycation appeal and perceived security of Airbnb-listed properties. SiteMinder’s lists of the top 12 hotel booking revenue makers are a testament to real changes in people’s travel behaviour and preferences during this time.”
Source: SiteMinder
