Hotel bookings – Outdooractive is the pole to the monopoly
Three well-known portals form the pinnacle of Online Travel Agencies (OTAs). A 2020 study by “Hotrec” (A European umbrella organization for restaurants and hotels) shows that 30% (up 10.2% from 2013) of hotel bookings in Europe are made using these portals. At the same time, direct bookings have decreased to 45.5% (a 10% reduction from 2013).
Thanks to high advertising budgets and the increased awareness of these portals, they have recorded ever higher bookings in recent years to become effectively a monopoly in the market. While larger hotel chains are becoming increasingly independent of these platforms, smaller privately-run hotels in particular are ever more reliant on them. This is because they often have neither the necessary advertising budget nor the necessary infrastructure for bookings, which means that they use OTAs to manage their reservations. The fact that this entails enormous commission costs, especially for the smallest hotels, is often not considered. The business model of OTAs can see a commission stretch up to 25% for smaller accommodation. High dependencies are added to these commission costs. According to a recent “Hotel Tech Report”, the these businesses have no control over how their accommodation is displayed on OTAs. The platforms set specific standards that must be met, not only in terms of presentation, but also in respect of cancellation policies and discounts. These booking portals are intermediary to the provider and the guest. E-mail exchanges with guests, contain little to no information to help ensure users are not lost to direct bookings. As a result, hotels find it difficult to build long-term relationships with their guests.
Outdooractive offers the solution for hotels to represent themselves attractively and sustainably, while also providing a direct booking option for postiential guests. The interface of destinations and their booking systems lets hotels be automatically displayed and listed on the platform. Additional reach is generated with the integration into the platform. An even better presence can be acquired with Pro/Pro+ at a flat rate without having to factor commission payments into the equation. This all-in-one solution not only offers the possibility to include links for direct bookings, but also the opportunity to reach a focused community and target group at the same time. More than 11 million registered users worldwide represent potential guests for the listed hotels. They can be directed straight to the hotel’s own website to continue the booking process and can then be contacted in a targeted manner to strengthen customer loyalty. Again, this entails no high commission payments and the users are passed on as qualitative contacts making Outdooractive and compelling tool with broad reach to support the hotel industry.
For more information, visit our website:
