The fall of 2013 is going to be a very strong season for travel agent business based on the significant increase in leisure and corporate hotel bookings made through both the CCRA hotel booking portal and through the CCRA GDS rate codes compared to last year’s numbers, reports Dic Marxen, president and CEO of CCRA Travel Solutions.
CCRA also reported that more than 4,083 new travel agents have registered to use the CCRAtravel.com booking portal since January 2013. From January through August 2013, CCRA observed a 12.7 percent increase in overall room nights and a 19.6 percent increase in total revenue booked by travel professionals via CCRAtravel.com, compared to 2012. During the same period, average daily rate (ADR) increased from $195.07 in 2012, to $206.88, CCRA said.
"We attribute the continued rise in CCRA’s travel agent transactions to our enhanced agency engagement efforts and our company’s ongoing mission to help make travel agents more profitable. Through new relationships with strategic suppliers and our continued partnerships with leading travel organizations, such as Ensemble and GlobalStar, we continue to align ourselves with like-minded companies and global brands that truly value travel agent business," Marxen said.
CCRA also announced the top five domestic and international fall vacation destinations based on travel agent hotel bookings made via the CCRAtravel.com hotel reservations portal. CCRA also unveiled several travel and hotel booking trends for fall 2013 (compared to 2012), including three new cities appearing on CCRA’s "Top 5 U.S. Cities" list.
The following cities have received the highest number of hotel bookings from travel agents for fall arrivals during September through November 2013:
The Top 5 U.S. Cities For Fall 2013:
1. Anaheim *NEW
2. Atlanta *NEW
3. Honolulu *NEW
4. Las Vegas
5. Miami
The Top 5 International Cities For Fall 2013:
1. Amsterdam
2. Barcelona
3. Cancun *NEW
4. Florence
5. London
CCRA also reported trends for fall 2013 based on transactions made by travel agents to-date on CCRA’s hotel booking platform, CCRAtravel.com:
• Fall 2013 domestic hotel bookings have risen by 11 percent and international hotel bookings by 7 percent, compared to fall 2012 hotel bookings made by travel agents
• The top 3 U.S. cities for fall 2013 hotel bookings: Anaheim, Atlanta and Honolulu, have replaced the top 3 cities booked in fall 2012: Boston, Chicago and Fort Lauderdale
• San Francisco is new to CCRA’s fall 2013 "Top 10 U.S. Cities" list, replacing New Orleans
• Cancun, Mexico is new to CCRA’s "Top 5 International Cities" list for fall 2013
CCRAtravel.com notes it offers agents real-time availability for up to five different rate categories on a single search at over 180,000 hotels worldwide. Agents can choose between GDS rates, Promotional rates, Internet rates, Net rates and the 15 percent Enhanced Commission rate categories. In addition, agents can set their own commission by adding a mark-up to net rates.
Visit www.CCRAtravel.com