Hotel technology expert eRevMax has published a market report titled ‘The State of Hotel Online Distribution in Middle East’. The findings cover a wide cross-section of topics, including technology adoption, distribution mix, channel production, online updates, among others.

With more than 108 respondents from five countries, namely, the UAE, Egypt, Qatar, Oman and Saudi Arabia, this is one of the most comprehensive study focused solely on online distribution trends in the region.

According to the survey respondents, close to 48% of their reservations come from online travel agencies (OTAs), followed by wholesalers contributing 23%. Online direct booking is around 18%, an indication of hoteliers’ challenge in the region to keep up with the shift towards mobile booking.

“The objective of this study is to identify key trends in the hotel online distribution space in the Middle East and understand how the market is evolving with the constant changes in consumer behaviour,” said Gerard Carrie, COO, eRevMax.

The survey also reveals that the Middle East hotel industry are now increasingly investing on travel technology solutions.

Majority of the respondents now use at least three travel technology applications. In lieu with the growth in online bookings, channel manager or OTA connectivity solution has become a must have with 64% hotels using it to manage OTAs.