If you booked any hotel rooms in 2020 or even in 2021, you may have noticed that some hotels were significantly cheaper than they usually are. This is likely due to dynamic hotel pricing which gives hotel rates a fluctuation model based on demand. With less people traveling, demand was lower within some cities.
But, business is picking up and hotel prices are about to get more expensive. According to Business Travel News (BTN), retail hotel prices could be increasing 10% - 15% in 2022. The key to this is “retail hotel prices”.
What do you mean by retail?
Have you ever used booking apps to book a hotel? Then you’ve purchased retail hotel rates. In its simplest form a hotel aggregate or vendor has sold access to hotel listings at a net price, the retailer then turns around and sells it for a slight mark-up. Keep in mind this is an oversimplification, because there are different types of wholesale to retail to consumer selling models.
Can I avoid the price increase?
If you’re booking through a popular consumer booking app, chances are you’re going to pay a bit more in the coming years for hotels. A way to avoid this is to look for places with private searches. Oftentimes your company or employer will offer an “employee perks” site. Don’t sleep on these. They often get mentioned to employees during the hiring process and then get forgotten.
These usually live behind a sign up and log in page. Usually if a booking site offers rates below published market prices, it is required for them to live privately behind a member log in page. You could imagine why the industry would want to maintain control of published fares.
Can you hook it up?
I am currently in talks with a wholesale vendor. I'm hoping to be able to provide memberships to anyone in my network interested in getting access to hotel rates below market value (cheaper than Hotels.com or Expedia, etc). You’ll definitely want to stay tuned.
Make sure you follow me on Instagram for any upcoming announcements.