While the big chain hotels are not the majority of hotels in the world, connecting to them is crucial for practically every online travel agency or other seller of hotels. Connecting to the big guys is not only a sign of credibility, but consumers want choice, and that means access to chain properties.
The problem for small and mid-sized online travel agencies and other sellers of hotel rooms is threefold.
- The global hotel groups have complicated, bespoke platforms that are not always easy to connect to
- These large hotel groups have limited resources resulting in connection queues that are sometimes years-long,
- Building and maintaining separate connections to all of these large players, even under the best of circumstances, is costly.
What are the options?
One option is to proceed with individual, direct connections to each supplier despite the long queues and high upfront and ongoing costs.
Another option is the traditional hotel switch that has been in place for decades. The switch has three primary benefits:
- It is a fast way to connect
- It offers a one-to-many connection
- It has connections to all of the largest global hotel groups
However, the switch also has certain limitations. A switch, by nature, is a pass-through environment that simply routes data from one side to the other. It is a purely technical connection that does not incorporate business elements into the connection. The data passing through cannot be enhanced or modified by the switch, and collaboration and industry knowledge sharing do not occur.
The only other option is from us here at DerbySoft. We’ve specialised in facilitated direct connections for many years. We work with all of the largest global hotel groups, but until recently we offered only fully bespoke connectivity geared to the very highest volume connections.We lacked a way to serve small or mid-sized demand partners, but now there’s a new solution.
The new solution
To rectify this situation, we recently developed a new, streamlined connectivity service called Go that combines the best elements of direct connections with the benefits offered by the switch.
Demand-side players that connect to Go enjoy the benefits of direct connections including direct commercial relationships with the big suppliers, but they also get the best of what the switch offers, which is fast connections, access to all of the global hotel groups, and a one-to-many model.
Next steps
Which of these options is right for a given OTA or other seller of hotel rooms? Some due diligence will reveal the best solution based on variables including volume, commercial relationships and terms, cost, flexibility, and so forth. Find out more about Go and how it could benefit you.