Dynamic packaging: Still plenty of room at the top?

Picture: Image Bank

When the new millennium dawned, the likes of TUI and First
Choice couldn’t imagine a world without
packages.

Fast forward to 2005 and we find a stagnant package holiday market,
and mass-market operators with bed banks from where consumers book
hotels to go with flights and resort transfers they booked
online.

The big operators weren’t alone in jumping on the
accommodation-only bandwagon. After a slow start, the sector is
crawling with companies, some selling direct, and some – such
as Trust Accommodation, Holiday Brokers and Transhotel –
selling only through the trade. Others, such as Medhotels and
Somewhere2stay, are trade focused but not averse to taking direct
bookings.

Medhotels sales and marketing director Carl Burrows said:
“About 85% of our business is through the trade, mainly the
independents’ call centres. The high street is two or three
years behind, still driven by viewdata and brochures, but it will
have to catch up.”

Accommodation-only companies offer thousands of hotels, mainly in
Europe – a market driven by the low-cost airlines – but
also in the US, Caribbean and other long-haul destinations.
Transhotel UK and Ireland director Joe Cerdan said: “Our main
market is Europe, but the growth is coming for long-haul
hotels.”

Somewhere2stay commercial and product director Stuart Jackson
expects to book 100,000 people this year, 80% of them through
agents. Many have moved away from packages in search of
flexibility.

Lowcostbeds chief executive Paul Evans said: “The
accommodation-only sector has grown, thanks to the cheap seats
available through the low-cost carriers and the people who want
flexibility and don’t want to be packaged.”

Evans added that growth had also been fuelled by the major tour
operators reducing their commitments. This has forced hoteliers to
look for new ways to distribute their product.

The accommodation-only revolution has had a huge impact, forcing
retailers away from the comfort of traditional packages into the
brave new world of selling hotels alone or within a dynamic
package.

But with so many accommodation-only firms seeking your business,
how do you choose who to book with? Travel Weekly looks at what the
major trade players offer.

Take me there: Cosmos’ sister company has
more than 10,000 hotels, villas and apartments in Europe, Cyprus
and Egypt, and long-haul destinations including the Dominican
Republic, United Arab Emirates and the US.

Typical client: started as web-savvy, high-flying
couples in their 20s and 30s, but is changing to the family
market.

Commission: varies depending on agency agreement.
Retailers can also opt for Internet rates and mark up prices
themselves.

Ease of use: very simple. Select a country, a
region, resort and hotel name if known, the number of nights and
arrival date, and the system’s room search kicks in. If you
find what you want, click ‘reserve’. The site offers
car rental, airport parking, insurance and other extras so agents
can top up their commission in one hit.

Sample product: June prices in Tenerife start at
£4 per person per night self-catering (£29 per week)
based on six people sharing a two-bedroom apartment for seven
nights at the two-key Laundress Park Apartments in the Costa del
Silencio.

Contact: 0870 264 6045; somewhere2stay.com.

Take me there: more than 1,500 hotels and
apartments in Europe’s favourite beach resorts. City hotels
and ski resorts are new additions and long-haul hotels should be
bookable by the summer.

Typical client: independent-minded travellers
comfortable with booking online and happy to rely on a reference
number when travelling.

Commission: 12%-15%.

Ease of use: the website’s home page has a
very useful ‘at-a-glance’ list of the destinations
covered. The room hotel search was quick and needs only a country,
but you can narrow the hunt down to a resort and hotel. Each
selection comes with a brief description; importantly, once you
select a hotel, the total price is shown in large numbers so there
is no mistake. Simply click ‘book’ and you are
done.

Sample product: seven nights in a studio at the
Paradise Del Sol apartments in Tenerife cost £165 per room
self-catering for arrivals on June 1.

Contact: 0870 274113; lowcostbeds.com.

Take me there: just over 20,000 hotels, mainly
in European cities, but numbers in the US, Caribbean, Argentina and
Mexico are growing.

Typical client: leisure clients wanting Internet
prices backed by an agent’s safety net. Also, business travel
agents booking corporate clients.

Commission: 10%-15%.

Ease of use: this website beats its rivals’
online efforts hands down. From the home page, agents can send
invoices, check commission and much more. They can search for
hotels using a city map or standard form. Once they have a list,
they can open details and pictures of a property and city and, if
they haven’t already done so, find hotels on a map. Users
need a password to get in.

Sample product: a self-catering studio at the
two-star Park Plaza Apartments in Tenerife starts at £18 per
night.

Contact: 020-8948 0550; transhotel.com.

Take me there: around 2,500 hotels in leading
Mediterranean resorts, plus Tunisia, Morocco, Turkey, Egypt,
Bulgaria, Croatia, Cuba, the Dominican Republic and Mexico.

Typical client: young couples and families who
travel within 12 weeks of booking and choose a hotel on
price.

Commission: 10%-15%.

Ease of use: the home page is a lesson in
simplicity, with buttons to help navigation around the site and a
search form where agents enter their code. It took seconds to
complete and just a bit longer to get back some results. There is
almost too much price information; click on the hotel name for
details and pictures. An agent administration area is a useful
route for retailers to amend or cancel bookings.

Sample product: seven nights’ self-catering
at the three-star Santa Maria Apartments in Tenerife in June start
at £190 per room .

Contact: 0870 442 4201; medhotels.com.

Take me there: many hotels in the
Mediterranean, but also across the US, Rio de Janeiro, Dubai,
Singapore, Hong Kong and Bangkok.

Typical client: the same as those booking low-cost
carriers. A lot more families and couples of all ages.

Commission: from 12%.

Ease of use: the hot offers and top-20
destinations on the home page are a distraction, but stay focused
and booking is simple. You must fill in all the fields, which can
be laborious. Results are clearly presented, with room and board
options. ‘View accommodation details’ has pictures and
information, but didn’t always work. Agents can register
during booking to ensure they get commission.

Sample product: a self-catering studio for two at
the two-key Mare Verde/Maluca Apartments in Tenerife starts at
£11 per person per night (£77 for seven nights).

Contact: 0870 705 5000; seligo.com.

Take me there: nearly 4,000 hotels in top
Mediterranean beach resorts in Spain, Turkey, Greece and Tunisia,
and in Florida, Mexico and the Dominican Republic.

Typical client: couples and families who normally
book a brochure package but are being dynamically packaged by
agents because it allows them to earn more money.

Commission: the company offers Internet rates so
agents can choose their own mark-up. A manual override allows
low-cost carrier service fees to be built into the hotel
cost.

Ease of use: the very simple website has a few
neat features for the trade. Search options come back with a small
hotel picture and prices depending on the room or board basis. A
British flag by a property indicates it is used by one of the big
four. A 24-hour ‘grace’ period is built in, allowing
agents to cancel and rebook accommodation for free if they
can’t find a flight to suit.

Sample product: three-nights’ self-catering
at Playa Olid Apartments in Playa de las Americas start at
£113 per week between June 10 and 30.

Contact: 0870 027 1238; holidaybrokers.co.uk.