An online commission-free booking system is to be made available to hotel operators in Asia Pacific.
Bidroom's no-commission, membership-based hotel platform has already attracted leading hotel brands and apartments, as well as Visa from the payments sector.
Launched in 2014 in the Netherlands, Bidroom currently offers 125,000 hotel properties in 128 countries to frequent travellers who benefit from guaranteed lower room rates compared to other OTAs. The company's primary mission is to provide a fair alternative to the online booking market, currently defined by OTA commissions.
For the first five years of operations, Bidroom focused on building its hotel stock in Europe and North America, but is now branching out to Asia Pacific.
"Bidroom works as an annual membership model, whereby hotels only pay a contribution after proven success,” said COO and co-founder MichaelRos. “This substantial saving is shared with the online frequent traveller who will subsequently be paying a guaranteed lowest-available price."
Michael Ros of Bidroom
According to hotel industry analysis, smaller hotels can rely on OTAs for up to 90 percent of their bookings, paying commission rates of up to 25 percent. Heavily-capitalised OTAs control the online hotel room market because they spend heavily on search terms.
Often, an illusion of online competition in the online market place is created, yet Expedia owns around 12 OTA brands whilst Priceline Group owns Booking.com, Agoda, Ctrip, and Priceline.com, amongst others.
"While online travel will continue its massive expansion, especially in Asia, the honeymoon period with OTAs using manipulative techniques must end," said Ros. "Bidroom stands apart as a more profitable and fair-minded booking solution for hotels in the region."
