The hotel booking wars in Asia Pacific is heating up with the entry of “fair-minded” hotel booking platform Bidroom, which aims to boost the profitability of the region’s hotel sector with its “radically different business model based on zero commissions.”
Launched in 2014 in the Netherlands, the Dutch startup currently offers 125,000 hotel properties in 128 countries.
For the past five years the company has focused on building its hotel stock in Europe and North America. Now it is time for hoteliers in Asia Pacific to benefit from Bidroom’s unique approach, said COO and co-founder Michael Ros.
Michael Ros: Time now for APAC hoteliers to benefit from Bidroom’s unique and “fair-minded” approach.
The company said its “primary mission is to serve as a fair alternative to the online booking market, which is currently defined by excessive online travel agents (OTAs) commissions that hurt hotel bottom lines.”
Bidroom works as an annual membership model that requires users to sign up before the website will display any hotel rates. Hotels (free for them to list) only pay a contribution “after proven success,” said Ros.
“This substantial saving is shared with the online frequent traveller who will subsequently be paying a guaranteed lowest-available price,” he added. (Watch how Bidroom works)
Bidroom plans to “restore balance, transparency and fair play by attracting hotels in Asia Pacific, the region with the fastest growth in online travel.”
According to Horwath HTL, there are an estimated four million hotel rooms in Asia-Pacific. The region has 471,000 new rooms under construction, epresenting a year-on-year increase of 27% as revealed in the July 2019 STR hotel intelligence report.
Hotel profits are already under pressure in Asia and Pacific destinations with new openings in arguably oversupplied destinations such as Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia and the Maldives have put hotel profits in the region under pressure. Reducing OTA commissions is therefore vital to hotel viability, opined Ros.
“The honeymoon period with OTAs using manipulative techniques must end. Bidroom stands apart as a more profitable and fair-minded booking solution for hotels in the region,” he added.
Bidroom said its no-commission membership-based hotel platform has attracted leading hotel brands and apartments, as well as Visa from the payments sector.
• All images credit: Bidroom
