Greek Hotels See Direct Bookings Among Top Revenue Makers in 2020

While Booking.com was the top hotel channel for 2020, hotel websites were among the top producers of booking revenue for local hotels last year, according to data from guest acquisition platform SiteMinder.

The information is included in SiteMinder’s lists of distribution channels that brought the greatest booking revenue to hotels in 2020 and since the global hotel booking reset began in 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.

Direct bookings

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 Greece where they ranked as the fourth-top producer of booking revenue for local hotels.

“Hotel websites have held on to fourth place over the past year, as testament to the sustained growth of consumers booking their accommodation directly,” SiteMinder says.

The ranking of hotel websites rose further in more than a third of destinations since April, when hotel bookings dropped to below 10 percent of 2019 levels as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.

In Greece, the top 12 hotel booking channels in 2020, based on total gross revenue made for all users of SiteMinder’s platform, were:

“This past year in Greece, as a result of the hotel booking reset, we saw the debuts of four hotel distribution channels, including Lastminute.com and Meeting Point, which reflect the newer ways that accommodation is being booked,” says SiteMinder’s senior director of global demand partnerships, James Bishop.

Highlighting that “consumers have changed”, Bishop says it is critical that Greek 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.

Another key finding from SiteMinder is the increased popularity of Airbnb as a distribution channel for accommodation providers, especially since April. Airbnb debuted among the top 12 in nine destinations; rose in five destinations, including Greece, over the full year; and surpassed its full-year ranking in 10 destinations since April.