Hospitality Management Services Overview on New Hotel Search Engines

Hotel search engines seem to be on the minds of hospitality management services as new entrants to the field are getting a lot of press. In particular, are the issues that independent and non-branded hotels will face in trying to gain exposure equal to the chains and major franchises. Here are some excerpts on two, such as Roomkey.com and Backbid.com, that are garnering the most attention and the impact if your hotel is an independent lodging property: Roomkey.com According to one hotel rewards service provider about Roomkey in this article just recently published – “It’s sort of like Animal Farm … It’s a new system where all hotels are equal but some hotels are more equal than others.” Hospitality management services providers can read more on what other impact Roomkey is expected to have on independent hotels here as reported in HotelNewsNow. Backbid.com “A new hotel-booking site, BackBid, turns hotel shopping on its head: As a potential guest, you become the pursued rather than the pursuer. Unlike “opaque” discounting sites such as Priceline and Hotwire, with BackBid you know the identities of the hotels upfront.” Read more on the pros and cons we think you should know from the perspective of hospitality consultants as reported in USA Today here. In addition to these two new hotel search engines, the Global Hotel Exchange is making its debut in March. According to a recent announcement from the California Lodging Industry Association (CLIA) who represents independent hotels, owners and their hotel management companies: GlobalHotelExchange.com “This new online travel agency model is offering cost-free distribution to hotels facing ever-rising commissions and fees, has already signed thousands of hotels in advance of its launch. CLIA and ILIA are joining an already large inventory base, and will continue to add more hotels in the near future.” Have some thoughts, either positive or negative, that would benefit fellow hoteliers on the use of these new hotel search engines as part of your hospitality management services? Please share those comments here.