Hotel Marketers Weight In On Distribution Trends 2013

　　One trend is that intermediary bookings are growing faster than property-direct booking. For Starwood it is not a bothersome issue yet, because it sees working with intermediaries as a partnership. However if the trend continues, it will create red flags about the allocation of marketing spend.

　　As hoteliers start planning for 2013, travel industry players are predicting the next big trends and concepts, said a group of panelists who spoke during EyeforTravel’s Travel Distribution Summit North America 2012.

　　Starwood Capital Group, for example, is going to tweak its distribution mix to keep up with the evolving consumer.

　　It’s the classic question, said Ash Kapur, VP of revenue management and distribution for Starwood Capital. “What percentage of spend should be online, and what percentage should be spent offline? I think we are going through that exercise now for hotels in ’13.”

　　“Fundamentally, we’re looking at digitizing our marketing, distribution approach in 2013,”Kapur said.

　　One trend the company is seeing is that intermediary bookings are growing faster than property-direct booking. It is not a bothersome issue yet, Kapur said, because he sees working with intermediaries as a partnership.

　　But if growth of the intermediary channel becomes significant, it will create red flags about the allocation of marketing spend.

　　“If it’s a partnership that’s growing faster than direct channels, we need to address it,” he said.