Electronic bookings fell during third quarter of 2001

The number of hotel room nights worldwide booked electronically through the Global Distribution Systems (GDS) fell by 7% during July, August and September.

London showed the biggest fall over the period, with the number or room nights booked through the GDS falling by more than 11%, but many European cities recorded a rise.

Electronic marketing firm Travelclick, which compiled the figures, said the worldwide decline was mainly the result of the 11 September terror attacks.

"Worldwide electronic hotel bookings made by travel agents grew 3.6% through the first eight months of 2001 and then experienced year over year declines following the events of 11 September," said Jan Tissera, division vice president for Travelclick.

"The major European markets such as London, Paris, Rome, Brussels and Amsterdam experienced declines in electronic bookings during the third quarter, while some European markets maintained or grew their volume of electronically booked room nights.

"Cities in Germany experienced strong growth, ranging from 2% in Frankfurt to 19% in Dusseldorf. Stockholm enjoyed the highest increase at 38%, due to strong domestic demand and increasing business travel spurred by the recent EU meetings."

The results were compiled from Travelclick's database, which monitor's hotel industry electronic distribution data from the Amadeus, Galileo, Sabre, and Worldspan GDSs.

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