On-Line Pricing

The importance of electronic hotel-distribution routes has grown substantially in recent years. According to statistics quoted in the Horwath Worldwide Hotel Industry Studies, direct reservations fell from approximately 39 percent in 1995 to 33 percent in 1999, with the shift in sales going almost exclusively to electronic channels. While hotels continue to make extensive use of travel-agent-oriented global distribution systems (GDSs), consumer adoption of the internet as a reliable and secure commerce medium has prompted a change in the way in which hotel rooms are being distributed. The internet has dramatically changed the way people communicate, research information, and buy goods and services. Travel products in particular have proven to be suitable for sale on line. The typical internet user—an affluent, frequent Most large hotel companies offer consistent room rates on their web sites and via third-party reservation systems, except for luxury operators.