New online bidding platform to increase direct booking for hotels

JAMAICAN HOTELIERS and their Caribbean counterparts for decades have relied on travel agents and tour operators to be the primary channel of attracting new guest to their properties; however, a new revolutionary platform is now at their fingertips.

Privatedeal.com, a bidding engine that hotels and attractions can integrate on their website to boost direct bookings, is now actively pursuing business in the region.

According to Nigel Cooper, the platform business development executive for the Caribbean, hoteliers can easily implement this offering by adding a widget on their website and defining the negotiation rules.

“When guests click on the widget, they simply select their type of stay (day/night use) or type of tour, dates, number of persons, and then bid their own price. The system automates the negotiation process, and when the deal is done, hoteliers and guests receive a confirmation e-mail.”

Cooper, who has lectured on hospitality and tourism management to undergraduate students for over 20 years, said that although there is continued growth in the use of online travel agencies (OTAs), this does not mean that hoteliers and operators of attractions should not develop or encourage strategies which increase direct bookings.

Urging hoteliers to try to promote direct bookings, Cooper said the reason is obvious, “You pay less commission and, therefore, there is a greater contribution to the bottom line.”

Statistics out of Europe indicate that 72 per cent of guests would book directly with a hotel if they believed they could get the best rates.

Privatedeal.com was designed by hoteliers in Switzerland and is now popular in Europe.

Through Cooper, privatedeal. com now has a presence in the Caribbean.

“I want to encourage hoteliers and operators of attractions to add

privatedeal.com to their range of marketing channels,” stated Cooper.

He was quick to point out that this is not in conflict with existing OTA arrangements, as privatedeal.com does not interfere with any rate parity clause, so the hotelier can offer lower price right on their website and enable a revolutionary guest experience.

The main advantage for hotels, he argued, is to get new bookings at a fair price, decrease OTA fees, as well as avoid rate parity.

“PrivateDeal has become a musthave system: define the rules, let guests bid their price, sit back and relax,” he concluded.