In a revolutionary move, the online booking community, Bidroom.com, announced that it will stop charging hotels commissions for bookings on their website.
Bidroom founders, Michael Ros and Casper Knieriem, have decided to completely abandon the standard commission model, lowering their commission rate from two to zero percent. Hotels, apartments, B&Bs and vacation rentals can now sign up at Bidroom.com and receive direct bookings from guests free of charge.
“We started off by charging just two percent commission, a symbolic rate, to make a stand against the outrageous state of the OTA (Online Travel Agency) market. We are firmly against the hideous practices of the major booking websites that charge up to 25% commission, emptying hotels’ budgets and guests’ wallets”, says Casper Knieriem, co-founder and CFO.
Instead of charging commission, the company will focus on offering additional services to hotels with their freemium business model. Hotel managers can choose from two plans: Bidroom Free and Bidroom Plus.
The Bidroom Free plan allows hotels to upload a limited number of images and add room and amenities descriptions.
Bidroom Plus enables hotels to add more images, and more importantly, make their accommodations appear higher in the search results.
Read rest of the artilce at eHotelier
