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Why not? In this case they successfully diverted a customer from booking an Airbnb at the cost of whatever fee they paid to Airbnb. Hotels being directly bookab

by bragr 3y ago

Why not? In this case they successfully diverted a customer from booking an Airbnb at the cost of whatever fee they paid to Airbnb. Hotels being directly bookable or bookable through other travel systems is a core feature of the hotel business model.

lotsofpulp 3y ago
I had assumed Airbnb is not integrated with hotel central reservation systems, but I did not know they bought HotelTonight in 2019. In which case, you are correct, why not sell in more places.
dspillett 3y ago
> Why not? There are likely several reasons for why and not. One for why not might be that it could be seen as legitimising a competitor, one which various interests from within & without the industry are actively lobbying against. Another at a more local level could be that AirBnB is garnering negative press in many areas due to further marginalising local residents¹ and some companies might not want to associate with that if it goes against an image they try to portray. -- [1] or potential local residents who are more priced out of an area by AirBnB² on top of more traditional holiday lets and second homes. [2] I'm thinking twice about using the service after seeing a recent increase in AirBnB & similar activity locally (often standing idle a significant amount of the time) while friends are struggling to find affordable places to rent or buy.
reaperducer 3y ago
Hotels being directly bookable or bookable through other travel systems is a core feature of the hotel business model. Many industries go through this, especially retail. It's cyclical. - The business establishes its brand and develops a loyal following. - Some consultant or middle manager or other rocket surgeon decides "We should be everywhere! Then we'll sell more!" - Increases sales for a little bit, then it doesn't because the product becomes a commodity that people can get anywhere, and so people start buying the competitors because the they're all viewed as being the same, since they're everywhere and right next to one another on a web site or store shelf. The company then has to compete on price rather than quality while still paying the middlemen, causing profit margins shrink. - Management realizes it's bought into a bunch of lies, and starts to let the co-marketing agreements expire so that it can get better control of its product. - New generation of managers come in and repeat the same mistake.

by bragr 3y ago

lotsofpulp 3y ago

I had assumed Airbnb is not integrated with hotel central reservation systems, but I did not know they bought HotelTonight in 2019. In which case, you are correct, why not sell in more places.

dspillett 3y ago

> Why not? There are likely several reasons for why and not. One for why not might be that it could be seen as legitimising a competitor, one which various interests from within & without the industry are actively lobbying against. Another at a more local level could be that AirBnB is garnering negative press in many areas due to further marginalising local residents¹ and some companies might not want to associate with that if it goes against an image they try to portray. -- [1] or potential local residents who are more priced out of an area by AirBnB² on top of more traditional holiday lets and second homes. [2] I'm thinking twice about using the service after seeing a recent increase in AirBnB & similar activity locally (often standing idle a significant amount of the time) while friends are struggling to find affordable places to rent or buy.

reaperducer 3y ago

Hotels being directly bookable or bookable through other travel systems is a core feature of the hotel business model. Many industries go through this, especially retail. It's cyclical. - The business establishes its brand and develops a loyal following. - Some consultant or middle manager or other rocket surgeon decides "We should be everywhere! Then we'll sell more!" - Increases sales for a little bit, then it doesn't because the product becomes a commodity that people can get anywhere, and so people start buying the competitors because the they're all viewed as being the same, since they're everywhere and right next to one another on a web site or store shelf. The company then has to compete on price rather than quality while still paying the middlemen, causing profit margins shrink. - Management realizes it's bought into a bunch of lies, and starts to let the co-marketing agreements expire so that it can get better control of its product. - New generation of managers come in and repeat the same mistake.