Online Rate Parity Is a Problem; Data Is the Solution with Sean Fitzpatrick of OTA Insight

As more North Americans use online travel agencies like Expedia and Booking.com (an estimated 40 percent), hoteliers have to get smart about competing for those travel dollars. That means competing on price as one approach, Sean Fitzpatrick, CEO of OTA Insight, tells us in this episode of the Hospitality Podcast. “The hotel industry is going through a significant period of disruption with the rise of Online Travel Agents,” Fitzpatrick said. “Hotel operators are wrestling with a huge amount of information that has a significant impact on their business.”

It’s a great time to be a hotelier, with the industry seeing a record period of growth. Not only is supply growing, but so are levels of demand and the number of channels to market to. But with a wide range of fluctuating room rates, it’s still difficult to offer guests consistency and value. Enter data. Fitzpatrick discusses how that data is being used to help solve the recurring issue of rate parity across the hotel industry. “OTA pulls all that info, rationalizes it and presents it in a simple way that empowers the hoteliers to make smarter revenue decisions,” Fitzpatrick said.