Airbnb has risen to be among the top hotel booking channels in Greece in 2019, according to SiteMinder, a leading hotel industry guest acquisition platform. This is the first time the booking platform has become competitive as a key booking channel.
SiteMinder’s annual lists of the distribution channels shows the highest booking revenue to hotels over the past year from across 20 of the world’s top tourism destinations. The list also shows the fast-growing successes of both direct booking strategies for hotels and the growth strategies of the travel industry’s consolidation-hungry giants.
Greece was among the markets where Airbnb made a debut on the lists of the distribution channels, less than two years after the homesharing platform launched its first global hotel technology partnership with SiteMinder to support traditional hospitality providers. Tony Palmer, Country Manager – Greece at SiteMinder offered this:
“It is important hoteliers are aware of how the booking landscape is changing and how their guests are choosing their accommodation. Of note in our list of the 12 most popular booking channels is Airbnb, which has made its first-time appearance and will be one to watch “
Direct bookings
Within 14 of the 20 tourism destinations, direct bookings—gained via a hotel’s website—either climbed the list from the previous year or maintained their position among the top five spots. In Greece, direct bookings made from hotel websites rose one place to fourth on the country’s list of top hotel booking channels. James Bishop, SiteMinder’s senior director of global demand partnerships had this to say:
“Encouragingly, direct online reservations continue to contribute strongly to hotel revenue globally, with hotel websites remaining among the top four channels in the majority of markets and, in many instances, jumping up the ranks.”
According to Bishop, hoteliers are actively seeking to drive direct bookings, through greater knowledge and innovation, as well as investments in metasearch.
Top Hotel Booking Channels
In Greece, the top 12 hotel booking channels in 2019, based on total gross revenue made for SiteMinder’s customers, were:
“The swift rise of Airbnb in many markets is evidence of the hotel industry’s openness to adopting Airbnb as a partner and the benefits they are seeing from selling an experience, not simply a room. It is also evidence that Airbnb users no longer just look for homestays and spare spaces,” Bishop said.
