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The Guild of Travel Management Companies (GTMC) has criticised the hotel industry for its high-profile direct selling campaigns.
Paul Wait, the chief executive of GTMC, said hotel businesses were “in danger of destroying their relationship” with travel management companies (TMC).
He accused them of failing to distinguish between online travel agencies (OTAs) and travel management companies which led to an “undermining” of the B2B market and caused “significant dissatisfaction” with corporate buyers.
“The hotel industry created a problem that led to the growth of OTAs and their constant undercutting of hotel website prices,” he added.
“As a way of competing with this, many hotel brands have added benefits and price advantages into direct sell channels only, without taking into consideration the impact on the B2B channel customers. Business travellers need to be valued too and not miss out on added-value incentives”
“We’re urgently calling for hotel brands to understand that not all distribution channels are the same, and that TMCs provide both a valuable service and important revenue. We urge hotels to consider a simpler method, such as reducing supply to the OTAs and taking a more specific and targeted action that does not affect the corporate buyer.
“Direct sell is not the only route to success for hotel businesses. In trying to reduce reliance on OTAs, hotels are being short-sighted in not embracing the other channels that often bring higher value rates. That just doesn’t make good business sense.”
