Gómez Performance Index For Hotels: December 15, 2004 - January 15, 2005

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.

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Data Analysis

The latest Gómez Performance Index (GPI) for Hotels finds Expedia in the top spot in the Response Time category for sixth consecutive time period. Response times across all benchmarked online travel sites averaged 9.51 seconds, while average transactional success rate measured at 98.79% during this period.

Response Time

Expedia continues to hold top rank in this Hotels GPI benchmark category despite posting slower response time for the third consecutive time period. With the exception of Expedia, Marriott, Ramada and Choice Hotels, the rest of the sites showed improved response times, helping the benchmark average improve by 0.30 second.

Success Rate

With only a 0.05 second change, the average success rate remains consistent with previous measurement period. Following the trend set during previous measurement period, eight of ten services posted success rates greater than 98%. This level of stability suggests 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.