STAAH, a leading technology company helping hoteliers unlock their full revenue potential, has unveiled its list of distribution channels that brought the highest booking revenue to hotels across India over the past year.
GoMMT retains its top spot from last year as the most preferred online booking channel by Indian travellers followed by Agoda and Booking.com. Wielding unmatched reach and budgets, these mega OTAs continue to influence every stage of trip planning and booking. Expedia and Airbnb continue to feature on the top 10 distribution channel list based on bookings via STAAH’s expansive 500+ integrations.
While OTAs will remain a significant channel at least in the near term, lower cost direct bookings via the hotel website are gradually increasing in share. STAAH SwiftBook, the booking engine connected to hotel websites has made the highest climb in the top channels list for 2024, up two spots to number four.
“The rise of direct bookings reflects the grown investments we’ve seen among hotels in their websites, including their booking engines and payment options, and the specialist conversion tools they connect with,” says Rajesh Ghanshani, Director Partnerships, STAAH.
Three newcomers made the top 10 list in India – Cleartrip, Hotelbeds and RezLive.com. This new cohort of channels showcases the openness of hotel businesses to employ a broader, multichannel approach as a way of connecting with more niche or harder-to-reach customer segments.
Global distribution systems also showed consistent performance, with STAAH GDS making it to number seven on the list.
“We’re living in a new era of hotel guest – travellers who are more evolved when it comes to booking behaviours and preferences,” says Rajesh. “Our data highlights the willingness of hoteliers to adopt both new and established methods to attract these customers, as they pursue a more holistic hotel commerce strategy to sell, market, manage and grow their business.”
The Indian hospitality and travel industry has been witnessing a healthy growth post Covid, driven by both international tourists attracted by medical and spiritual experiences, and a consistently growing Indian middle class with a large disposable income.
“Accommodation providers that continue to adopt a more holistic online commerce strategy, consisting of both new and established methods, can expect to reap the benefits of India’s projected hospitality and tourism growth,” adds Rajesh.