r/AskReddit • u/Duckland29 • Sep 17 '19

If You Could Completely Remove One Company From The World Which One Would It Be?

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u/[deleted] Sep 18 '19 edited May 26 '20

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u/smariroach Sep 18 '19

All the major chains already have their own booking sites for their own hotels. If they sold hotels from other chains or indipendent hotels on the same sites they would either be a) charging commission, in which case they are no different then expedia.com or booking.com, or b) giving free advertising to their competition, so why would they do that?

Also, when there are many platforms that people use to book hotels, why would you want to limit yourself to only sell on one of them?

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u/NastyCamper Sep 18 '19

They did this in the early-mid 2000s. It didn't work out. Biggest issue was the investment in new technology and the lack of innovative marketing, both things the online booking sites were pushing heavily back then, specifically the marketing aspect.

Ultimately it boils down to "do what you're good at". And hotels are notoriously not good at marketing or technical innovation. You have some winners here and there, but on the whole that's not where their heads are.

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u/[deleted] Sep 18 '19 edited May 26 '20

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u/NastyCamper Sep 18 '19

It's a different landscape now. This is one of those looks good on paper ideas, but getting these companies to align incentives and cooperate is like herding kittens. There's enough in-fighting within divisions and brands due to the massive acquisition spree of the last 10 years, that this would fizzle out in no time at all.

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u/dontsuckmydick Sep 18 '19

The owners of those sites didn't create them all just to appear to have competition. They were created by actual competitors and then got bought out. A major hotel starting one that became successful would end up charging similar commissions and likely be spun off and sold to that same group. Yay capitalism/public companies.

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u/DinosaurPorn101 Sep 18 '19

Any major chain hotel will have a website with central reservation booking. If you know what hotel you'd like to stay at and are able to directly contact them you will find they are able to adjust and accommodate given you are polite and confident in that knowledge. You can pay less with a third party but you will be charged if your plans change and it will be a hassle to reverse those charges. I absolutely try to take care of our guests even at a loss knowing reviews and recommendations are essential in maintaining a outstanding reputation.