Sabre delivers new hotel commissions tool

A new web-based tool designed to help hotels and travel agencies manage hotel booking commissions more effectively has been developed by Sabre Travel Network.

Sabre Worldwide Commission Manager will be implemented from next month, giving hotel companies the ability to track commission payments to agencies on a global scale, while enabling agencies to track, manage and claim commissions.

It has been created in conjunction with Seville-based Worldwide Payment Systems (WPS) and will be introduced at next week’s HEDNA Conference in Florida.

WPS believes it will generate the impetus and scale to make this product the global commission management solution of choice in the absence of an industry-wide standard. 

Hotels will receive regular updates about their commission status. Sabre Travel Network will export to Sabre Worldwide Commission Manager all booking information such as reservation numbers, check-in and check-out dates, rates and commissions on a monthly basis. Hotels can then access and manage this information in several ways, including on the internet.

Sabre-connected agencies will be able to track their commission status online. A high-level summary provides an overview of all the previous month’s commissions for the bookings done through the GDS, grouped by their status. A tracking tool enables the agency to check the commission status of different reservations, while a claim tool helps communication between hotels and agencies about pending commissions, saving administrative work on both sides and making the exchange of information more efficient, according to Sabre.

Sabre intends to unveil other products to make it even easier for travel agencies to book hotel accommodation through the GDS early next year.

Room nights booked through the GDS were up five percent year-on-year to the end of October, length of stay was up to 2.21 days (up 1.1 days), the average daily rate was up 8.4%, and revenue delivered to the hotels was up 13.8%, Sabre said.

WPS CEO Pedro Fernández-Salvador said: “Between Sabre Travel Network, Travelocity, lastminute.com, Site59.com, the Jurni Network, Nexion and SynXis, Sabre Holdings has one of the largest hotel inventories of any company anywhere. Sabre Worldwide Commission Manager will contribute by enhancing this hotel offering still further”.

Sabre Travel Network EMEA senior vice-president Richard Adams said: “Managing commissions and dealing with payment enquiries has been one of the biggest booking bug-bears facing both travel agencies and hotel operators.

“By providing this solution we hope to ease the situation for all concerned, stimulate travel agencies to boost the number of hotel bookings they make in the GDS, and so make Sabre a preferred distribution method for hotel operators.

“Our hotel merchandising revenues have grown approximately 40% year-over-year and now account for 23% of all Sabre Travel Network’s hotel revenues. We expect this strong growth to continue and expect revenue from hotels to become a much more significant piece of the Sabre Travel Network portfolio going forward.”

Report by Phil Davies