SiteMinder, a company offering hotel booking and distribution technology, has compiled a list of the 15 booking channels that generated the greatest revenue for South African hotels in 2017. The list is based on data from the 72 million hotel reservations that passed through SiteMinder’s channel management solution during 2017.
South Africa’s top 15 booking channels collectively contributed 87% of all revenue that passed through SiteMinder’s channel manager for hotels in the country in 2017.
The booking channels were as follows:
- Booking.com
- Expedia
- Hotel websites (direct bookings)
- Hotelbeds
- GTA
- Agoda
- followme2AFRICA
- Global distribution systems
- Tourplan
- HRS - Hotel Reservation Service
- Hostelworld Group
- SafariNow.com
- HotelsCombined
- Tablet Hotels
- Exclusively Hotels (Total Stay).
SiteMinder MD, Mike Ford, said: “This data shows the enormous – and growing – value of direct and corporate bookings, with hotel websites and global distribution systems featuring in almost every (destination) list this year. Additionally, we see that hotels continue to look to the wholesale sector (the trade) as an important provider of guests, with a number of the world’s leading bed banks featuring in every list globally.”
Speaking on the top performers in South Africa, Lisa Horne, General Manager for South Africa at SiteMinder, adds: “The appearances of channels such as Tablet Hotels and HotelsCombined on the list show the growing value of travellers from both the US and Australia to the South African hotel market. Indeed, the US is now the country’s second-largest source of inbound tourist arrivals while Australia is the sixth-largest. However, it’s clear South African hotels need not only attract international travellers, but also domestic travellers, with locally based channels such as followme2AFRICA and SafariNow.com making the list – as well as Tourplan, used by major operators.”
