The infographic, based on several market studies, advises hotels to invest in meta-search marketing and include it to their core marketing plan.

Traffic to meta-search sites have been steadily increasing with over 36% online travellers using comparison shop before booking.



This is evident from 13% growth in the meta-search traffic statistics over the last year amongst varying age groups. 39% of ‘Millennials' cite meta-search channels as their preferred source of information, 35% of ‘Xers' (age 35-48) opt for meta-search, 23% of Boomers (age 49-67) and 14 % of ‘Matures' select these sites as their top source for travel information.

With the entry of TripAdvisor and Google in the meta-search space, it is no wonder that meta-search is going to take center-stage in 2014. Kayak has processed over 1577 million queries in 2013, and this is expected to reach over 3 billion in the next 5 years. According to December 2012 data from PhoCusWright and Experian Hitwise, 6% of US traffic comes from sites such as Kayak. TripAdvisor receives 260 million monthly visits and over 50% of them use the meta-search feature.

This tremendous growth can be attributed to the value proposition these sites offer to the travel consumers – not only do they provide real-time availability and rate data, and enable price comparison – these sites are one-stop platforms for travelers to research and consequently book their hotel stay.
 
eRevMax predicts the year 2014 to be the year of hyper meta-search expansion as companies spread their reach way beyond their home-market comfort zones.

For hoteliers to sell through these channels effectively, eRevMax has added meta-search as a new channel option within its distribution network. Hotels can subscribe to push their rates and availability on multiple meta-search sites directly from their RateTiger and Connect platform to boost direct bookings.
 
To access the full infographic, click Meta-search 2014 - It's here to stay

About eRevMax:
 eRevMax is the leading provider of online distribution, channel connectivity, market intelligence and revenue management solutions to the hospitality industry. The company delivers its premium hotel channel management product RateTiger, web-based solution SimpleDistribution and its real-time enterprise connectivity gateway - Connect, to the hospitality and travel industry. Incorporated in 2001, eRevMax serves over 7000 customers and 20,000 hotels worldwide with offices and R&D centers across three continents.