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Thanks a lot for your feedback Matt. It is very interesting and valuable. I can tell you know a lot about the industry and how it deals with OTAs. First of all

Thanks a lot for your feedback Matt. It is very interesting and valuable. I can tell you know a lot about the industry and how it deals with OTAs. First of all, LetMeGo is not only about low prices: it's about offers customized for each traveler depending on his/her needs (VentureBeat nailed it down here: http://bit.ly/5vioZZ http://bit.ly/5vioZZ ). Nevertheless, given that LetMeGo's pricing is "semiopaque" (the bids submitted by the lodging are ONLY visible to the traveler that submitted the itinerary), we think that some lodgings will offer prices below what they publish in CHAINWEBSITE.COM. This would be relatively similar to the way hotels do with other opaque-pricing service like Priceline and Hotwire that allow them to forget about parity. Time will tell if this assumption is correct. By the way, we are not counting on large chains for our success. In fact, we want to work primarily with independent and small hotels, bed and breakfasts, and the large vacation rental market. Our system has been designed with them in mind first. Why? Because this area of the industry has a lot of potential that hasn't been discovered yet, and because I am against large corporations with too much power. In reference to the chicken/egg dilemma, we have secured access to large databases of lodgings. We are inviting them all to list their lodgings for free using a very intuitive interface. They will only pay us a 10% commission per booking after they get paid. We are staying away from the GDSs for now because most independent lodgings don't use them (outside the US independent lodgings account for more than 80% of the market). Also, because our service, as I mentioned above, is about custom offers and service, and not only about real-time and the-lowest pricing. I had the "pleasure" of chatting with the VPs of Revenue Management of two of the largest hotel chains in the US and in the world. As you predicted in your comments, they didn't like LetMeGo's model. That, for me, was a good sign. Thank you Matt!

mattwdelong 17y ago
Glad I could help in some way. A few other thoughts I had after reading your response. First, don't let the VPs of Revenue Management make you deviate from targeting chains. They have THEIR profits to account for, just like each hotel has their own profits to account for. In a way, this scares them because the revenue is not coming in through THEIR channels. If you think you can help a hotel in a chain profit, if you can prove it with data and you're passionate about it then go for them too! There are some really awesome online tools I want to use, but there are just so many policies that don't allow it. Hotel industry right now is stuck between being "innovative" and "head stuck in and around the ass cheeks region". Simply put, the hotel industry is dropping the ball in many areas where they can thrive. I would LOVE to work for a chic independent hotel doing marketing, I think I know enough about the industry and online marketing to help them immensely. I am going to discuss it with the owner of the establishment I work at to check out the site and see what they think. They are fairly old school in their thinking and I am scared that they might fall behind. I have been trying hard to be persuasive in transitioning them into online marketing. They might be willing to test it out at their smaller property first and see how it goes. I may get back in touch with you via email in the next couple days. All I can tell you when negotiating with sales/gm/owner is put emphasis on their value. They do want to fill a room, as a room is perishable just like a food item. A room not sold is a room that can never be sold again. Just a quick question with regards to bidding on a guest - does the hotelier see other hoteliers bidding? Or is this private? Regardless, I am very interested to see how your venture plays out. Again, good luck!
- torrenegra 17y ago
  Thank you Matt :) Yes, lodgings see the bids from other lodgings in real time, including all the details. Why?

mattwdelong 17y ago

Glad I could help in some way. A few other thoughts I had after reading your response. First, don't let the VPs of Revenue Management make you deviate from targeting chains. They have THEIR profits to account for, just like each hotel has their own profits to account for. In a way, this scares them because the revenue is not coming in through THEIR channels. If you think you can help a hotel in a chain profit, if you can prove it with data and you're passionate about it then go for them too! There are some really awesome online tools I want to use, but there are just so many policies that don't allow it. Hotel industry right now is stuck between being "innovative" and "head stuck in and around the ass cheeks region". Simply put, the hotel industry is dropping the ball in many areas where they can thrive. I would LOVE to work for a chic independent hotel doing marketing, I think I know enough about the industry and online marketing to help them immensely. I am going to discuss it with the owner of the establishment I work at to check out the site and see what they think. They are fairly old school in their thinking and I am scared that they might fall behind. I have been trying hard to be persuasive in transitioning them into online marketing. They might be willing to test it out at their smaller property first and see how it goes. I may get back in touch with you via email in the next couple days. All I can tell you when negotiating with sales/gm/owner is put emphasis on their value. They do want to fill a room, as a room is perishable just like a food item. A room not sold is a room that can never be sold again. Just a quick question with regards to bidding on a guest - does the hotelier see other hoteliers bidding? Or is this private? Regardless, I am very interested to see how your venture plays out. Again, good luck!

torrenegra 17y ago
Thank you Matt :) Yes, lodgings see the bids from other lodgings in real time, including all the details. Why?