A new platform is born under the impetus of an Alsatian hotelier. With a “new” model… yet well worn.
Hoteliers have energy to spare, even in the midst of a crisis. The proof with this new platform, born under the impulse of an Alsatian hotelier in activity, tired of paying commissions to Booking.com and other Expedia. Last year, Jean-François Maes created Booking-better.com , a platform that advocates direct relations, without intermediaries or commissions. We wish him good luck in this adventure, reflecting an expectation of the sector in the face of the omnipotence of OTAs. But his project is a bit like David against Goliath…
What is its business model? A monthly subscription of 10 to a few tens of euros per month. The platform also undertakes to donate 5% of its profits to three associations active in the tourism sector, including Solidarity Hotels.
“Booking-better offers a new economic model, more united and transparent, where the host regains control of his reservations”, explains Jean-François Maes. The entrepreneur has convinced some 300 colleagues, to whom he promises six months free at the start.
The model is however not so new, several start-ups have tested it, without real success. Who remembers Pilgo, created in 2016, with a similar concept? This platform, carried in particular by the entrepreneur Charles Beigbeder, has since been absorbed by Leboncoin … and no longer exists as a B2C brand. In the same spirit, Fairbooking came out of the ground in 2013 , under the impetus of 18 hoteliers from Nantes, driven by the same desire to sell directly. Nine years later, his site only mentions 1000 addresses. For its part, the French site Hotels-prives.com has, it seems, thrown in the towel…
The largest hotel recommendation program is Google Hotels, according to Sébastien Bazin (Accor).
Direct booking, a total myth? Through the prism of hotel platforms, so far, yes. But the hosts of course manage to sell rooms via their own site or comparators. And they work hard to limit their dependence on intermediaries who crunch their margins. Among independents, OTAs generate 40% of overnight stays, according to a recent study . In addition, 18% of sales are “influenced” by these same online agencies, which corresponds to sales without commissions…
In recent years, a major player has also been helping hoteliers create a direct link with consumers: Google. In the opinion of Sébastien Bazin, CEO of the Accor group interviewed by L’Echo touristique , “the biggest hotel recommendation program is Google Hotels , which is ahead of Trivago and TripAdvisor”. “We don’t have the technological means of Google, also believes the boss of Europe’s leading hotel group, with great humility. We are in a ratio of 1 to 1000.” To each his own job, in a way. One in hospitality, the other in digital.
