A recent TravelClick study found that travel agents are using the GDS to make a record number of hotel reservations.
TravelClick's data forecasts that Global Distribution System, or GDS, hotel booking growth surged this year and will surpass 68 million reservations. That is an increase of more than 2 million reservations from the number of bookings generated in 2016.
The 2017 Global Travel Agent GDS study surveyed 900 travel agents worldwide who use Amadeus, Sabre and Travelport.
"It's clear from both the research and our data that global travel agents rely on the GDS as an essential operating system for conducting hotel research and booking reservations," said John Hach, senior industry analyst, TravelClick.
"This study is also consistent with our business intelligence data, which shows that GDS hotel bookings and average daily rates (ADR) that are generated through travel agents are on the rise," Hach added. "All of this further proves that hoteliers have ample opportunity to generate incremental revenue and maximize revenue per available room (RevPAR) through the power of the GDS."
One of the most important things that travel agents want when it comes to hotel bookings on the GDS is rate parity. Hotels that don't offer the same prices on the GDS that they do elsewhere are not looked upon favorably.
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According to the survey, 89 percent of all travel agents said that rate parity was "somewhat" or "very important."
Nearly two-thirds of travel agents who were surveyed (63 percent) said they actively book away from hotels that do not offer their best rates within the GDS.
Hotels that offer great amenities are also among the ones that travel agents book the most.
In addition to great Internet and complimentary breakfast-two of the most popular amenities-the most appealing features are swimming pools, free parking, airport shuttles or transfers, hotel gyms and early check-in/late check-out.
Travel agents continue to rely heavily on the GDS for booking and shy away from non-traditional accommodation options such as Airbnb because they are not available on the GDS.
"Travel agents cited a strong preference to book lodging directly through the GDS systems and not on Airbnb or other alternative lodging websites," added Hach. "Keeping this in mind, hoteliers have access to a proven and growing hotel booking audience to help them effectively compete within the sharing economy."
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