Over 96,504 room nights in Malta were booked through the giant travel website Expedia until last month when compared to almost 89,000 throughout 2008.

However, despite the higher booking rate the produced revenue was lower than last year's, Expedia director Diego Lofeudo said yesterday. Over €7.5 million was generated through the site between January and September compared to about €8 million for the whole of last year.

The hotels with the most room nights sold this year were the Riviera Hotel, The Palace Hotel and the Radisson.

While pointing out that 2009 was not over yet, Mr Lofeudo added that the site sold more nights but at a cheaper rate all through the economic crisis.

"We were able to bring the volume to Malta," he told hotel representatives during a supplier summit at which clients were briefed on the workings of the site.

Mr Lofeudo and his colleague Zigor Munoz pointed out that several of the 84 Maltese hotels that promoted themselves online had not yet advertised their rates for 2010.

"You need to be the first ones out there and stop waiting to see what your competitors' prices are like to give a cheaper rate," Mr Lofeudo said adding that holidaymakers were already booking next year's vacations.

Mr Lofeudo and Mr Munoz insisted that their clients should maintain consistent rates if they chose to promote their services across various channels.

"Think of your pricing proposition and revise rates accordingly to market prices," Mr Lofeudo said adding that some hotel rates were practically double from one travel website to another. This confused customers who may just click onto another hotel to avoid working out the reason for the stark price difference.

He also encouraged hotels to work with promotions as, on average, 70 per cent of bookings made through Expedia were the result of these promos.

At the end of the summit Expedia awards were handed out for 2008.

The two Radisson Hotels Malta won the best partner award; the Grand Hotel Excelsior was top for room nights and revenue; the Corinthia San Ġorġ won the rate competitiveness award and Le Meridien won the best customer selection and the special recognition awards.