Opodo turns focus on hotel content

Friday, 06 Dec, 2005 0

Online agency Opodo has unveiled a series of changes to its hotel content as it aims to improve the customer’s online experience and work more closely with suppliers.

Hotels director John Ryan said the revamp – which will offer a greater choice for consumers and a more flexible pricing model for suppliers – will set it aside from online rivals.

“It’s one of the biggest challenges we have – improving the online experience,” he said.

Under the supplier developments, hoteliers will be offered a choice of rates – retail, enhanced retail, merchant or wholesale. Ryan said hoteliers will be free to select which model works best at certain times of the year in order to maximise occupancy and yield.

He added that during his time as a hotelier, he became “frustrated and agitated” at online travel agencies taking merchant rates and adding a huge mark-up, sometimes as much as 35%.

“We have come up with a genuinely friendly model that will allow hoteliers to control pricing and inventory,” said Ryan. “We believe they will find it an attractive proposition. It allows them to be flexible to changing market conditions.”

Under the consumer enhancements, Opodo will source hotel inventory of its parent GDS Amadeus, a move that will see the number of properties rise from 45,000 to 65,000. Ryan said that unlike its competitors, the site will offer a cross section of two to five star hotels and feature chain and independent hotels.

He added that the number of images accompanying hotel descriptions will rise from the usual one or two to nine.

In a further move, rooms will be clearly identified with a double or twin room.

“This currently does not happen which makes it difficult for friends or family members to select which room is appropriate,” said Ryan. “Not everyone wants a double room so searches will now identify which rooms have twin beds.”

He admitted the customers’ online hotel experience has traditionally been poor with little or no differentiation between different market segments.

“We need to help improve the online experience,” he said.

In a further move, each of Opodo’s European sites will have hotel descriptions in the home market’s language – something that, remarkably, has not previously been done.

Report by Steve Jones