Rate violation incidents down to just 0.01% of room nights at Hotelbeds

We know that tackling OTAs that abuse your discounted rates – intended for offline channels – is a top priority and we´d like to update you on how we are fighting on your behalf to stop this practice.

Our policy is to collaborate only with travel distribution companies that clearly add incremental value to you, so we have invested heavily in new and market-leading automated technologies unavailable elsewhere in the market. 

Using data analytics, tracking travel sellers’ flows, and monitoring on a regular basis, we are now able to accurately segment and monitor how contracted products are distributed.

To efficiently manage these processes Hotelbeds has established a team of professionals dedicated to ensuring that rates intended for offline channels are not sold by OTAs.
Additionally we have also implemented a strict ‘three strike policy’ that disconnects – after only three warnings – offenders that have been found to distribute opaque rates in the OTA channel.

These changes have meant that during the last year Hotelbeds has stopped around €300 million of otherwise profitable sales to ensure compliance with the new policy as part of its commitment to hotel partners.

As a direct result of the above changes, at Hotelbeds we are pleased to confirm that over the last six months the number of incidences have been reduced by 90% to reach a historic low, bringing reported issues down to just 0.01% of total room night production.

Updating hoteliers on this news, our Managing Director, Carlos Muñoz,  commented: “Whilst it is still early days and we recognise that more remains to be done, I am nonetheless pleased to confirm the significant impact we have made already and the positive feedback from hotel partners about the automated technologies we are using that are unavailable from any other bedbank.
 
“Understandably some have asked ‘why are you doing this and how are you able to forgo €300 million in otherwise profitable sales?’. The answer is simple: we are totally committed to adding real value to our hotel partners and we know the best way to achieve this is by providing incremental, high-value bookings from long-haul source markets that don’t compete with their direct channel.
 
“We achieve this by leveraging our B2B network of over 60,000 travel agents, tour operators, airline and points redemption schemes – all of whom offer a high proportion of incremental long-haul, long-stay guests that hotels find really valuable.”