The Hindu Business Line : Hotel bookings? Click online is the way to go

Mr Anand Rao, General Manager, ITC Windsor – The Luxury Collection, Bangalore, says, “The influx of hotel bookings from the Internet is increasing rapidly. The Internet permits rate/ features comparisons between different hotels with a minimum effort and bookings made on the Internet generate immediate confirmations with no lead times involved.”

Take, for example, Travelguru, a travel portal with over 4,000 hotels in India and 72,000 hotels worldwide on offer. Mr Ashwin Damera, CEO and Founder, Travelguru, says there are more options available in every price-range on a travel portal. “This unlocks value for consumers and gives them alternatives to the conventional 4/5-star hotels.”

It’s a winning proposition not just for the customer. Mr Lemuel Herbert, General Manager, The Park, Bangalore, says hotels are increasingly feeling the impact of these portals on the hospitality industry. “Around 20-30 per cent of our business comes from the electronic media,” he says.

Mr Rao of ITC Windsor says travel portals are also influencing pricing strategies. “The ease with which travellers can now compare rates and amenities has made the pricing strategies of hotel companies more dynamic.” However, Mr Damera feels that as long as demand for hotel rooms is greater than supply, it may not be possible to bring down prices through any channel.

Mr Amit Saberwal, Vice-President for hotels business — makemytrip.com, says travel portals like his have helped the unorganised sector in the hospitality industry, especially serviced apartments, reach end-consumers when hotel rates hit the roof in cities like Bangalore; “hotels were forced to revise their rates downwards.”

But do customers get to enjoy the ‘early bird’ benefit through online booking? One needn’t necessarily book early to enjoy the benefit of low prices, feel industry players. The Web sites have dynamic pricing and hotels can change rates according to occupancy levels, says Mr Saberwal. “This generally translates into a benefit for online customers.”

Online ‘quota’

It is this win-for-all situation that has ensured that hotels have a specific ‘quota’ for online booking through such portals. Mr Rao says that as most travel portals permit comparisons between different hotels, travellers prefer to use them as opposed to using Web sites of individual hotels.

According to Mr Damera, the ‘quota’ often depends on individual suppliers rather than online vs. offline. “We do have great arrangements with all our hotel partners, with later cut-offs and even same-day availability in many hotels,” he says. Mr Rao clarifies that the quota would vary on a day-to-day basis.

Hotels like The Park have also tied up with Design Hotels, a consortium of hotels, for bookings.

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