Gómez Performance Index For Hotels: November 15 - December 15, 2004

The Gómez Performance Index (GPI) for Hotels benchmarks end-to-end application response time and availability of leading hotel and third-party travel services Web sites executing a multi-step transaction -- the ubiquitous hotel room search. The steps measured consist of navigating to the homepage; initiating a search query; and gathering room details and rate information.

To read the complete methodology for the Hotels GPI, please click here.


Data Analysis

The latest Gómez Performance Index (GPI) for Hotels finds Expedia in the top spot in the Response Time category for fifth consecutive time period. Response times across all benchmarked online travel sites rose to an average of 9.81 seconds, while transactional success rates improved to 98.74% during this period.

Response Time

Despite posting a slower response time for the second consecutive time period, Expedia continued to hold top rank in this Hotels GPI benchmark category. Expedia was not alone in showing an increased response time, however. With the exception of Hilton and Marriott, all of the benchmarked companies showed response time increases ranging from 0.07 seconds to nearly 3 seconds. As a result, the benchmark average took a 0.49 second hit.

Success Rate

Average success rate improved by 0.63% compared with the previous publishing period. With the exception of Starwood and Hilton, all benchmarked sites showed an improvement in this category, helping to raise the overall benchmark average. Eight of ten services posted success rates greater than 98%, suggesting a high level of consistency across the online hospitality services industry.

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Gómez helps companies understand the impact of performance as well as usability and functionality relative to the online customer experience. The site elements we benchmark are instrumental in shaping overall customer satisfaction, and drive customers' willingness to utilize the online channel. Gómez follows the travel, retail and financial services industries, measuring the business effectiveness of Internet offerings.