Luxury travel on the Internet continues to grow at a rapid pace. Searching for information Demand for convenience, the complexity of many offerings, and a greater comfort with e-commerce transactions are just some of the factors fueling this phenomenal growth.
Josh McCarter, Chief Operating Officer of Spa Finder, the world's leading travel reservation service, reports 'traffic on Spafinder.com is skyrocketing. Finding the right spa is a complex process. The Internet is the perfect medium to match people with the ideal spa. Booking online is becoming second nature to people,' says McCarter.
The Leading Hotels of the World--the prestigious luxury marketing organization representing 395 of the world's finest hotels. reports extraordinary growth in online bookings, expecting $50 Million in Internet sales in 2002. To date, the www.lhw.com site receives approximately 2,000 bookings and four million page views monthly.
One key factor in the substantial growth of transactional business on the lhw.com site could be as a result of Leading Interactive Reservations, a joint venture company which The Leading Hotels of the World, Ltd. formed in February 2001 which has jump-started e-commerce innovations for Leading. One such strategy was to transactionally link member hotel websites to The Leading Hotels of the World booking engine.
With an average of $850 per booking for a 2.3 day stay, The Leading Hotels of the World's website has become the luxury hospitality industry's major online luxury travel purveyor. Year over year growth since 2000 has been in excess of 140%, with average daily room rates at more than $300 per night.
Online bookings have more than doubled from 7,017 in 2000 to 17,121 in 2001 with sales increasing from $5.9 million in 2000 to $12.8 million in 2001 (115% increase). Month over month bookings are dramatically increasing as well, with November 2001 posting a 267% growth rate over November 2000 (representing 6% of total reservations), up from 2% during the same period in 2000. December 2001 room sales increased to 9% of total room sales from 2% in December 2000 (268% growth).
Josh McCarter, Chief Operating Officer of Spa Finder, the world's leading travel reservation service, reports 'traffic on Spafinder.com is skyrocketing. Finding the right spa is a complex process. The Internet is the perfect medium to match people with the ideal spa. Booking online is becoming second nature to people,' says McCarter.
The Leading Hotels of the World--the prestigious luxury marketing organization representing 395 of the world's finest hotels. reports extraordinary growth in online bookings, expecting $50 Million in Internet sales in 2002. To date, the www.lhw.com site receives approximately 2,000 bookings and four million page views monthly.
One key factor in the substantial growth of transactional business on the lhw.com site could be as a result of Leading Interactive Reservations, a joint venture company which The Leading Hotels of the World, Ltd. formed in February 2001 which has jump-started e-commerce innovations for Leading. One such strategy was to transactionally link member hotel websites to The Leading Hotels of the World booking engine.
With an average of $850 per booking for a 2.3 day stay, The Leading Hotels of the World's website has become the luxury hospitality industry's major online luxury travel purveyor. Year over year growth since 2000 has been in excess of 140%, with average daily room rates at more than $300 per night.
Online bookings have more than doubled from 7,017 in 2000 to 17,121 in 2001 with sales increasing from $5.9 million in 2000 to $12.8 million in 2001 (115% increase). Month over month bookings are dramatically increasing as well, with November 2001 posting a 267% growth rate over November 2000 (representing 6% of total reservations), up from 2% during the same period in 2000. December 2001 room sales increased to 9% of total room sales from 2% in December 2000 (268% growth).