This New App By Standard International Group Shows The Increasing Trend Within Hotels To Bypass OTAs
Independent hotels and hotel chains are increasingly trying to gain direct bookings through their websites instead of users booking through the OTAs. In a move to attract more users, The Standard International Group along with a few select hotels have launched an app which will help users with same day hotel booking post 3 pm. The move will mean more direct bookings through hotels and consequently, less booking through OTAs.
Online travel agencies and hotels tend to have a love-hate relationship. On one hand, OTAs help hotels get a larger number of bookings (than the hotel can on their own) on account of their scale; on the other hand, hotels do not like spending on the commissions they need to pay to the OTAs in return for their services. A lot of hotel chains try attracting hotel bookers directly to their website (thereby cutting down the OTA ‘middleman’) by offering users a cheaper rate for direct bookings. Though currently, a lot of these dynamics are changing, for example: Expedia’s partnerships with Marriott and Red Lions, however, the rivalry still continues.
In one such step to gain more direct bookings for their excess inventory, Standard International, the parent company behind the Standard hotels in Los Angeles, Miami, and New York’s High Line and East Village neighborhoods, have launched a instant booking app called One Night Standard, that facilitates users to book rooms after 3pm for that particular night. The unused inventory left with the hotel post 3 pm can find hotel bookers this way, instead of remaining vacant. The app, launched earlier in 2016, proved to be a huge success.
As a result, on September 20th, the Group launched a new app called One Night that expands this instantaneous booking service to other hotels as well. Currently, the same night hotel booking can be done for hotels such as 11 Howard, Gramercy Park Hotel, Ludlow, Nomad, Oceana, Palihotel, Palihouse Santa Monica, Palihouse West Hollywood, Petit Ermitage, Refinery Hotel, Standard High Line, The Standard in Downtown LA, The Standard Hollywood, The Carlyle, The Line, The Wythe, Urban Cowboy, Viceroy Central Park, and Viceroy L’Ermitage.
Unlike OTAs, the hotels can be compared on this app on the basis of user experiences rather than their prices. The app aims to give more emphasis to the staying experience in a hotel and hence large images of the hotels are also visible for the user’s convenience.
Though this app is still operating at a very small scale as they attempt to impact the business of the OTA giants, yet, more and more independent hotels providing such attractive options to users would imply that the OTAs will also have to sweeten the deal for customers in order to attract more bookers to their websites. This might eventually lead to reduced commissions for the OTAs.
Editor’s Note: We care deeply about your inputs, and want to ensure our content is increasingly more useful to you. Please let us know what/why you liked or disliked in this article, and importantly, alternative analyses you want to see. Drop us a line at content@trefis.com
Have more questions on Priceline and Expedia? See the links below.
- What Is Priceline’s Fundamental Value On The Basis Of Its Forecasted 2015 Results?
- How Has Priceline’s Revenue And EBITDA Composition Changed Over 2012-2016E?
- What Is Priceline’s Revenue And EBITDA Breakdown?
- Top 3 U.S. OTAs: A Comparison Of Operating Margins
- How Has Priceline’s Stock Performed In The Last Five Years?
- What Drove Priceline’s Revenue And EBITDA Growth Over The Last Five Years?
- Where Can Priceline’s Growth Come From In The Next 5 Years?
- What Is Priceline’s Fundamental Value Based On 2016 Estimated Numbers?
- Why Might TripAdvisor Be An Attractive Acquisition Target For Priceline?
- What Has Been The Immediate Impact Of The Brexit Decision On The Online Travel Companies?
- Which Will Be The Most Important Segment To Fuel Priceline’s Future Growth?
- How Fast Are Priceline’s Advertising Revenues Growing?
- Priceline’s Q2 2016 Earnings Preview
- Priceline’s Robust Q2 2016 Suggests That The Company’s Growth Story Is Expected To Continue
- How Is Priceline’s Hotels Division Expected To Trend?
- How Is Priceline’s Revenue Growth Trending?
- Why Did Priceline Discontinue Its ‘Name Your Own Price’ Option For Flight Bookings?
- How Is The U.S. Travel Industry Faring Currently?
- How Might Booking.com Further Help In Priceline’s Growth In The Vacation Rental Segment
- What Drove Expedia’s Revenue And EBITDA Growth Over The Last Five Years?
- What Is Expedia’s Fundamental Value On The Basis Of Its Forecasted 2015 Results?
- Expedia Year 2015 Review
- How Have Expedia’s Different Segments Performed Over The Last Five Years?
- Expedia Q1 2016 Earnings Results
- How Does Expedia’s Financial State Currently Look?
- What Percentage of Expedia’s Stock Price Can Be Attributed To Growth?
- Who Relies More On Debt: Priceline Or Expedia?
- What Might Be The Long-Term Impacts Of Brexit On The Online Travel Agencies?
- Where Might Expedia Be Looking For Acquisition Opportunities Currently?
- Expedia’s Q2 2016 Earnings Preview
- Expedia’s Second Quarter Growth Was Undermined By Integration Issues Of Its Acquired Entities
- How Do We Expect Expedia’s Hotels Division To Trend?
- How Is Expedia’s Top Line Trending?
- Expedia’s Evolved Relationship With Marriott International And Its Significance
Notes:
See More at Trefis | View Interactive Institutional Research (Powered by Trefis)