Hoteliers, Distributors Insist On Going Past The Fax

One of the most irritating aspects of the merchant model for some hotels is an ongoing reliance on faxing non-global distribution system reservations that sometimes initially are made with an automated system. InterContinental Hotels Group has gone so far as to say that, starting this month, it will work only with online distributors that "either already have automated the booking, payment and settlement processes or are committed to automating the processes in a short period of time.

"It is surprising that some of the third-party sites still use manual and inefficient booking processes," IHG continued. "Consumers can make reservations on a distributor's Web site, but those reservations are often ultimately transmitted to the hotel via a fax or other process that then must be manually reentered into the hotel's reservation system. This leads to the potential for lost reservations, reduces consumers' confidence that their booking is secure and increases operational costs for hotel owners."

Among the largest faxers is Expedia, but the company in 2002 bought Newtrade Technologies for its direct booking capabilities. According to an Expedia spokesperson, "We have announced Hyatt, Outrigger and Marriott this year, and we'll have more than 10,000 properties covered in the next two years. To give some perspective, we now have 15,000 merchant model properties."

Hyatt Hotels Corp. will begin using the direct connection next month. According to vice president of electronic distribution Joan Lowell, "Expedia is in this position where they don't have automation. I suggested taking the rates through the GDS as well, but I think Expedia is really just trying to put a new twist on the merchant model."

"We are first and foremost a merchant model provider," said Expedia Corporate Travel general manager of supplier relations Richard Markus. "On corporate, I never want to have a traveler shop in Dallas and find only four hotels on the shelf, so we'll serve up GDS inventory, but we're going to give preference to merchant model just like on Expedia.com." One of the obvious benefits, he said, comes about in driving down the cost of distribution with direct connections.

Expedia declined to address InterContinental's announcement.

"Some of the other chains also are saying that unless you confirm by GDS or another seamless link, we're not going to offer that," said Carlson Wagonlit Travel worldwide vice president of hotel and car relations David Witham.