Getting Rev’ved Up About Hotel Rate Parity

WIth the United Kingdom Office of Fair Trading deciding that hotel rate parity (resale price maintenance) policies must be abolished, the global travel industry must now prepare for a seismic shift in the balance of power between online travel agencies (OTAs), hotel brands and individual hotel properties. It’s a shame that British regulators got it completely wrong.

Hotel Pricing Chaos

It’s traveler versus hotel revenue manager when it comes to finding the lowest hotel rate. Comparison shopping is unfortunately still essential as the chaos of managing multiple distribution channels sometimes get the best of the hotels. Deals my pop up in unlikely spots, disappear completely from the most obvious places and create deals that may not be as attractive as presented. This example is for The Mauna Lani Bay Hotel on Hawaii’s Big Island. At least they don’t charge resort fees…