New Mind | tellUs destination sites can now offer access to hotel rooms at the lowest rates available following a new partnership with HotelPlanner.com, the leading supplier of online services to the global group hotel sales market.
For the last 40 years, access to the most competitive room rates has been provided by the Global Distribution System (GDS), a platform which has linked all of the booking engines for the major hotel chains, allowing travel agents to book holidays well before the arrival of the internet. The commission paid by hotels for bookings generated via the GDS has been lower than for rooms sold via the OTAs so as a result, it's been the providers' channel of choice and in some respects, the holy grail of online booking.
Until now the ability for our DMOs to plug into the GDS to sell room availability on their destination sites has evaded us but following our partnership with HotelPlanner.com, which already accesses the system, we can now offer GDS integration for the first time.
HotelPlanner.com is the leading provider of online services in the global group hotel marketplace, and an established resource for group event planners and hotel partners alike.
Today, HotelPlanner.com provides its group travel technology expertise to over 4,200,000 group event planners globally while servicing $7 billion in group hotel booking requests in 2017 and an estimated $10 billion in 2018. Working with a network of more than 100,000 quality hotel partners worldwide, HotelPlanner.com offers the best room deals for groups of 10 or more for conferences, tour groups, sports events, weddings, meetings, etc.
So how does it work? Event organisers will often book hotel rooms in bulk but may not necessarily sell all of the rooms booked as visitors often make their own accommodation plans. HotelPlanner.com sells this unsold room stock for group bookings at heavily discounted rates. By integrating our e-tourism solution with HotelPlanner.com, we are able to offer our destinations' visitors with access to the best room rates available.
Tim Hentschel, Co-Founder and CEO of HotelPlanner.com comments, "We are thrilled to be able to advance New Mind | tellUs's offering by providing them with the opportunity to access the GDS system and, ultimately, offering their clients the best available rates on the market."
Integration with the GDS is already proving to be popular for New Mind | tellUs DMOs, with Liverpool, Manchester, Cheshire and Greenwich already onboard and running successful pilot projects.
If you're interested in offering the best hotel rates available to your visitors via the GDS, please contact your Account Manager.