New OTA offers hoteliers zero commission until the end of 2019
A London-based online travel agent claims it is set to disrupt the marketplace by offering an initial zero per cent commission for hoteliers, property owners and host who list on its platform.
Taking on the likes of booking.com and Expedia, Gomingo will waive commission until at least the end of this year, although consumers will pay a 3% charge to cover card fees.
After that, it says commission for hosts will never be higher than 15%, which is lower than some other OTAs which can charge up to 35% commission.
The site has been in development since 2016 and is gearing up for a soft launch this month.
It says its mission is to ‘hand control and return value back to hoteliers and hosts from the larger OTAs’ who ‘tie you down with cumbersome contracts, meaning you can’t escape their high prices’.
"We will only charge up to 15% and do not believe in these industry contracts. We charge you less so you can earn more from your bookings through us and in return the guest benefits from a lower and exclusive price. Through this key feature, we hope to shake up the OTA industry," its website says.
Co-founder Sanjay Patel told TravelMole the site would be completely transparent, with no unethical marketing practices.
"We made a conscious decision not to have any urgency marketing and to have a very clear transparent site, and this was well before the investigation by the Competition and Markets Authority," he said.
Gomingo will not charge higher commission fees for front page visibility but instead properties will be listed alphabetically, unless users specify a different search criteria.
Hoteliers and property owners can choose from three rate policies – flexible (free cancellation), moderate (50% refund 30 days prior to check-in), and strict (non-refundable).
There are currently 20,000 rooms listed and Gomingo hopes to treble that number by the end of the year.
It hopes to achieve this by integrating with a third party channel manager and is currently actively looking for a partner.
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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