India, 4th January 2024: Global hotel technology giant, STAAH, has revealed the top channels across its network of 19,000+ properties. Gobibo and MakeMyTrip owner, GoMMT took the top spot for six years running. Booking.com and Agoda were on number two and three spots, retaining their position from last year.
TravelGuru jumped up two spots to number four while Expedia came down one spot to number five.
“With their huge reach in the Indian subcontinent and beyond, these online booking channels are well placed to capture their share of the burgeoning Indian travel and tourism market,” says Shoaib Ali, National Sales Head – STAAH.
According to reports from Sabre and McKinsey, domestic travel in India has already surpassed pre-Covid levels and international trips expected to grow from 13 million in 2022 to 80 million 2040.
STAAH SwiftBook booking engine was on number six, slightly down from its position last year. However, the year-on-year revenue from this channel continues to grow.
“Travellers showed a continued openness to book directly with hotels in 2023, despite OTAs regaining ground,” says Shoaib. “STAAH’s continued presence in the top 10 online booking channel list is representative of this trend.”
Shoaib adds that direct bookings growth is fuelled by guests seeing value from bookings via this channel. “STAAH’s advanced features that ensure the hotel website remains competitive, combined with smart packaging and promotions by hoteliers makes direct bookings an attractive proposition.”
As business bookings post Covid resume and continually grow, GDS has returned into the top 10 channel with STAAH GDS and WebBeds made an entry into the top 10 channel list at number eight and number ten spots respectively, representing the strong demand from business travel segment. HRS, an online booking portal specialising in business travel was also in the top 10 list.
Airbnb, the online marketplace for short-term and long-term rentals, retained its number seven spot in the Indian market.
According to the STAAH data, representing 19,000+ properties across 90 countries and 350+ integrations, accommodation providers across the board – including India – are showing holistic commerce strategy aimed to attract the right guest, at the right time.
“New and established online channels are making the distribution mix, allowing accommodation providers to be booked according to evolving seasons and updated traveller preferences that span multiple channels,” says Shoaib.
