The adversarial relationship between hoteliers and the OTAs has changed to an 'all hands on deck mentality' during COVID with operators no longer insisting on rate parity and last room availability – once major sticking points – as they scramble to put heads on beds, according to Expedia and Agoda.
Speaking at the Web in Travel conference last night, Cyril Ranque, President of Travel Partners at Expedia, said suppliers are “definitely, definitely much, much more open-minded to try new things, innovate, kind of kill all the scared cows that have been piling up over the years.
“Everybody’s fighting for survival so I think that the spirit has been ‘let’s get together and try to find a solution to get customers back on the road and try the product’.
“I think it’s a great time for us to remove all the legacy issues we’ve had in the industry for years and try to be constructive in the future,” he said.
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