Australian hotelier group urges travellers to avoid OTAs
Tourism Accommodation Australia (TAA) has called on all travellers to cut out the online middle man and make bookings direct with hotels.
It comes after yet another online travel agency Hooroo said it plans to increase commission rates for hoteliers by almost one-third.
TAA had previously warned the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) that online travel agencies would increase commissions following the buyout of Wotif by Expedia.
It says the online hotel booking industry is now dominated by Expedia and rival Priceline which together have a 85% share.
Following Expedia’s acquisition, Wotif raised commission rates from 12 to 15% and Priceline’s Agoda.com soon followed suit.
Now Hooroo has announced it will up rates from 10% to 13% beginning in July.
"Unlike OTAs, our industry is highly competitive and is set for a massive increase in supply over the next few years, which will mean that some hotels will have to absorb some of the increased commission charges," said Carol Giuseppi, acting chief executive of TAA.
"The businesses that will suffer most are the small regional hotels, motels and B&Bs that don’t have their own booking engines. For many of them, a three per cent increase in commission levels can represent an increase of up to 30 per cent in their total sales costs with the potential for further increases highly likely."
"What is annoying is that we predicted at the time that the takeover of Wotif would lead to a surge in commission charges, and that’s precisely what has happened," added Guiseppi.
"We would encourage consumers to book directly with hotels to prevent significant future price increases and secure more value."
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Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.
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