‘Smart agents’ get commission on top of fees

Octopus is confident it can keep ahead of rivals such as lastminute.com because of its range of content and sturdy relationship with the trade.

During a recent interview, Octopustravel.com managing director, Ray Mason told TravelMole: “The point of differentiation is the range of hotels and product we offer. Lastminute and others don’t have the diversification of product, which is our strongest area.”

Lastminute has recently announced its intention to work more closely with the trade, but Mr Mason says the company is effectively trying to turn itself from a competitor of the agent into a partner.

He said that another of Octopus’ strengths is availability. The website takes a set allocation of hotel rooms per night, so can almost always guarantee availability. If there isn’t availability and the chosen hotel does not want to offer an extra room at the published rate, an Octopus customer will be emailed with an alternative hotel in 24 to 48 hours.

International managing director, Daniela Wagner said that it is the hands-on relationship between contractors and suppliers around the world that further strengthens the brand.

Octopus is building on a well-established network. It is the online off-shoot off GTA (Gullivers), which has offices all over the world. Although the primary channels for Octopus content is third party websites like EasyJet and Freeserve, it wants to build on its relationship with trade.

Mr Mason told TravelMole that Octopus was selling well through the trade. “It is just a case of making agents aware of the website and then getting them into the habit of using it. The smart agents are selling hotels with no frills flights, and now add-ons and airport transfers.

“They are making more on a 12% hotel commission with us than they are on the flights.”

He said that many agents had asked Octopus to produce signs for their windows saying: “Book here at internet prices”.

Transfers are offered in 300 cities worldwide and are based on contracts held by GTA with various suppliers including limousine, minibus and coach services. “GTA has done this for 15-20 years with some suppliers, this is just the first time it has been bookable online” said Mr Mason.

He added: “It is reassurance for some people that you have already paid for the transfer and you don’t need to worry about having the right local currency or overcoming language issues at the airport.”

Report by Ginny McGrath