Billboard Effect Strongest in Q2, With Up to 30% More Traffic from Third-Party Sites

As part of IgnitionOne’s work with over 65 leading hotel brands, we analyzed the volume of hotel site visitors that come from third-party sites—such as metasearch products and OTAs—and how this changes over time. We analyzed these volumes by hotel segment to understand how this trend might differ across tiers, with data dating from the beginning of Q4 2018 (which marked our inaugural Hospitality Industry Report), through to the end of Q2 2019. Below, we highlight some key trends from this analysis.

Seasonality

Q2 had the largest share of hotel site visitors and bookers coming from third-party sites relative to the previous six months.

• Share of site visitors coming from those sources in Q2 increased by 14% from Q1 and by 27% from Q4
• Share of bookers in Q2 increased by 14% from Q1 and by 11% from Q4

As Q2 is typically a high travel period with many tourists and travelers taking summer vacations, this trend is consistent with expectations—OTAs are especially active in these summer months, hence accounting for a higher volume of hotel site traffic.

Cross-Segment Trends

These trends were the strongest in Upscale hotels.

• Share of site visitors from those sources in Q2 increased by 27% from Q1 and by 59% from Q4
• Share of bookers in Q2 increased by 45% from Q1 and by 94% from Q4

Luxury hotels are the outlier, and had the highest share of visitors and bookers in Q1.

• Share of Luxury site visitors coming from those sources in Q1 was 22% higher than both Q4 and Q2
• Share of Luxury bookers in Q1 was 22% higher than in Q4 and 5% higher than in Q2

Economy hotels saw less fluctuation quarter over quarter in site visitors and bookers coming from third-party sites than Upscale, Midscale and Extended Stay.

• Less than 20% increases in share of site visitors and less than 5% increases in share of bookers in Q2 from Q1 and Q4

IgnitionOne helps global hospitality marketers get more direct bookings and boost conversions across channels. Download our latest Hospitality Industry Report for more insights, or get in touch to learn more.