“In the near future major brands and
smart hoteliers will start introducing
restrictions on how net wholesale rates can be marketed on the Internet by the third parties, which will gradually lead
to a requirement that net rates should be bundled with other services and cannot be exposed “naked” on the Web (i.e. like it is
today with the merchant model)…Online intermediaries will further embrace the dynamic packaging
model thus turning themselves into typical online wholesale packagers/tour operators.”
Due to a lack of understanding of how online distribution worked, exacerbated by the industry-wide desperation after 9/11, hoteliers saw their discounted rates posted all over the Internet –on merchant sites and thousands of affiliates–and suffered severe consequence to rate and brand integrity.
