AboutAnywhere.com CEO Supports Choice Hotels
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AboutAnywhere.com CEO Supports Choice Hotels
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Category: Worldwide
This is a press release selected by our editorial committee and published online for free on 2009-10-23
CEO of Aboutanywhere.com speaks out on Choice Hotels and Expedia negotiations
Company Invites Choice CEO Steve Joyce to include the Choice Hotels portfolio in AboutAnywhere.com at a 10% margin with “no strings attached”
AboutAnywhere.com CEO Ashwin Kamlani , “The same invitation stands for any other hotel group or chain that has not yet joined us.”
AboutAnywhere.com applauds Steve Joyce, CEO of Choice Hotels, for standing up to Expedia. Most of the new companies that are emerging in the online travel space are focusing on a small niche, like mobile platforms or travel reviews. It has been a long time since a new Online Travel Agency (OTA) has emerged, and this means that hotels today are forced to choose between the four major OTAs, since the other smaller OTAs have been consolidated under these four companies, giving the four major OTAs the majority of negotiating power.
“It takes a lot of courage to do what Choice has done and I congratulate Mr. Joyce,” said new AboutAnywhere.com CEO Ashwin Kamlani. “This should serve as a clear signal to the OTAs that the hotel industry refuses to fall victim to the same mistakes that were made after September 11, 2001. It is completely unreasonable for an OTA which demands such a high percentage of the hotels’ reservations revenue to require last room availability. Objectively speaking, if a hotel is certain that they can fill their last rooms through their own direct channels, they should do so without hesitation. Expedia’s demands are also unrealistic. Anyone from the industry will tell you that regardless of what you force a hotel to put into the contract, the hotel is going to do whatever is necessary to maximize its profits. This is why they need an army of market managers all over the world to enforce these outrageous policies. Forcing the hotels to commit financial suicide in a contract is just a product of arrogance.”
Kamlani provides further comment: “We would like to publicly extend an invitation to Mr. Joyce to include the Choice Hotels portfolio in AboutAnywhere.com at a 10% margin without any other demands (or no strings attached). The same invitation stands for any other hotel group or chain that has not yet joined us. Our agreements are transparent and hotel friendly, rather than cloaking a one-sided agreement under the false label of ‘partnership’. AboutAnywhere.com was built by hoteliers for hoteliers, and we understand the theory of revenue management and the pressures that hotels face every day, particularly in today’s economic climate. We do not demand any favoritism against the other OTAs because our flat 10% margin agreements naturally encourage hotels to push more business through our channels. We build consumer loyalty through our agreements with major consumer brands, and these strong relationships with the hotel industry and the consumer are a winning combination.”
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