Hotels market their way around rate pacts with online travel agencies

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.