Wotif.com emailed suppliers yesterday to announce that on 27 January, they will be expanding their Supplier Extranet to allow suppliers to enter rates, allotment and inclusions for up to 3 months, instead of the current 28 days.
This change will affect the distribution of deals to all our their sites:
www.wotif.com
www.lastminute.com.au
www.travel.com.au
Wotif have set up a link to see samples of how the Edit Deals, All Deals and Stop Sell pages will change - Click HERE.
This change will affect the distribution of deals to all our their sites:
www.wotif.com
www.lastminute.com.au
www.travel.com.au
Wotif have set up a link to see samples of how the Edit Deals, All Deals and Stop Sell pages will change - Click HERE.
The Brisbane-based company has grown to dominate about 40 per cent of the internet-based business in Australia by providing customers with discounted room rates secured at the last minute. The three months expansion will lead to a 365-day reservation window by the end of this year.
Wotif.com chief executive Robbie Cooke concedes that there has been "a lot of internal debate about the pros and cons" of previous changes to the forward booking period. The company started out with just a seven-day window but then quickly expanded that to 10 and then 14 days within in the first year. The jump to 28 days was not made until 2005.
Mr Cooke has said that there are two key reasons driving the change to 365 days.
Customers say they want certainty for forward bookings beyond 28 days in order to solidify travel plans, especially over busy periods such as school holidays and Christmas.
For hoteliers, the attraction is that they can deal directly with a customer - albeit via Wotif. That cuts out a layer of wholesalers, travel agents and other middlemen in the distribution chain that can tack on up to 30 per cent in extra room costs.
Hotels will still offer discounted accommodation for bookings made just a few days in advance but they too can have added certainty for the months ahead.
Source: Click HERE
