Hilton Hotels Corporation expects to make more than $2.5b (£1.3b) in turnover this year from bookings made through its websites.

This represents huge growth of 253% from five years ago when turnover from its websites was $709m (£373m).

Bookings through Hilton-branded websites, which have increased at 30% year-on-year since 2002, were up by 39% in third quarter of 2006 compared with the same period a year ago.

Website bookings currently represent 17.2% of the company’s overall total bookings, compared with 9.1% in 2002.

In contrast, contribution of third-party online agencies has remained flat at 3% of total bookings, and currently represents 15% of Hilton’s entire internet business.

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By Chris Druce

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