Nielsen Online’s quarterly estimate (for December 2007) of top ten online retailers was just released and as in earlier surveys the tour and travel (much less the hospitality) industry was nowhere to be seen. Leading December’s tally was online retailer The Popcorn Factory. The list is fairly dynamic with the population changing almost every quarter. Why hospitality remains a laggard as an e-tailer has several reasons including the multiplicity of distribution channels some of whom like GDS have robust e-commerce components within. Nevertheless, the steady growth in online booking notwithstanding, the area warrants further scrutiny and dollars to maximize sales and minimize distribution costs.
Top Ten Online retailers
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Vijay Dandapani
Co-founder and president of a New York based hotel company for 24 years. Grew the firm to five hotels in Manhattan and also developed a greenfield project at MacArthur airport, New York. Speaker at numerous prestigious forums including Economy Hotels World Asia, Lodging Conference, NYU, Columbia University Real Estate Roundtable, Baruch College's Zicklin School and ALIS. President and ceo of New York City Hotel Association since January 2017. View all posts by Vijay Dandapani