Hotels market their way around rate pacts with online travel agencies
Skift Take
This practice really doesn't seem so "out of the box." Haven't hotel loyalty programs been doing this for years? And airlines and online travel agencies do likewise.
Amid the larger discussion of whether rate-parity agreements are beneficial for hotel room suppliers, many revenue managers are using creative, out-of-box thinking to offer discounted promotions to segmented groups of travelers.
One strategy is using “fences,” also known as closed user groups, to segment a hotel’s customer base and offer promotions to specific groups of people within that fence.Online travel agencies have long used the tactic successfully, targeting a consumer group and giving those travelers access to an offer that non-affiliated general consumers wouldn’t receive. Now suppliers are toying with the strategy.
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