Different terminologies for hotel wholesalers in the travel industry
A wholesaler is a third-party marketplace that sources hotel inventory (room nights, rates, hotel amenities, packages) in bulk from hoteliers, and accommodation providers and then sells them to travel sellers such as OTAs, travel agents, DMCs, and tour operators. Travel suppliers offer hotel rooms and hotel content (hotel address, room images, amenities), which is then shared with the travel sellers. From a B2B perspective, wholesalers play a prominent role in connecting travel suppliers (hoteliers) and travel sellers (OTAs, DMCs). Some wholesalers focus on working in niche markets or specific hotel types, while others buy all types of hotels and distribute them globally. Through wholesalers, hotels generate more sales and OTAs get hotel products in bulk at a cost-effective price. Interestingly, wholesalers do not sell or distribute hotel inventory directly to travelers. But, any novice in the hotel and accommodation sector can easily get confused by the complex distribution channel. Along with that, wholesalers are coined with various names that can confuse more about the already complicated hotel distribution system. Here we are to help you know the different names of wholesalers. 11 different names of wholesalers Hotel suppliers Hotel merchants Bed banks Consolidators Hotel brokers Hotel aggregators Hotel vendors Demand partners Hotel providers Hotel banks Hotel distributors Hotel suppliers Wholesalers are also called as hotel suppliers in North Americas. Hotel suppliers play a prominent role in sourcing and acquiring hotel products in bulk and selling them to hotel buyers such as OTAs, tour operators, DMCs, etc. Hotel merchants Long before the evolution of the internet, wholesalers were named hotel merchants. Hotel merchants would sell hotel inventory offline to their networks, which was considered a reliable selling platform for accommodation providers. Bed banks Bed banks are online version of traditional wholesalers and been a part of the hotel distribution for last 20 years. They are B2B platforms that contract supply directly from hotels and accommodation providers in bulk. Wholesalers are named bed banks mostly in European and UK market. Consolidators Hotel consolidators are businesses that buy hotel rooms or accommodations in bulk and resell them at discounted rates to their customers. They don’t have direct contracts as bed banks but function in a similar fashion. Hotel brokers Wholesalers are popularly known as hotel brokers in USA and Mexico. The business operations of hotel brokers are the same as consolidators and thus, sometimes hotel brokers are also called consolidators. Hotel aggregators In the APAC region, wholesalers are commonly named hotel aggregators who became popular in the mid-2000s. Their business model is slightly different from wholesalers; however, they are middlemen in the hospitality industry that rents hotel rooms on lease and takes care of the marketing and operational functions of the hotel. Hotel vendors Wholesalers are also universally known as hotel vendors, selling hotel products to travel buyers such as OTAs, DMCs, TMCs. It’s worth mentioning that hotel vendors are often confused with hotel amenities vendors; however, both vendors are highly different in their business. Demand partners Wholesalers in the travel industry are also popularly called demand partners in the USA. They work with accommodation providers and operate similarly to the traditional wholesalers of the hospitality industry. Hotel providers Hotel providers is another popular name of wholesalers in the B2B marketplace of the USA. They deal with hotel products such as hotel rooms, availability, room rates, amenities and have direct contracts with the hotels. Hotel banks Wholesalers are also commonly known as hotel banks in different regions of the USA. They work like bed banks, buying hotel rooms in bulk and selling to OTAs, tour operators, etc., in bulk at a reduced price. Hotel distributors In some regions of the USA, and Europe, wholesalers are also known as hotel distributors. These intermediaries operate as wholesalers negotiating special discounted rates with accommodation providers and selling it to OTAs, DMCs, tour operators, etc. Wholesalers are considered essential to the travel industry because they are the link between hoteliers and OTAs, metasearch engines, tour operators, DMCs, etc. Wholesalers provide the products and services that travel sellers use to run their businesses, including room nights, rates, hotel amenities, packages and much more. In every region across the globe, the wholesalers are named differently, but their business model is like the traditional distribution. We hope the different names of wholesalers help you understand the competitive hotel distribution landscape better.
udChalo, a Leading Travel Services Provider for Defense Personnel, selects Vervotech to Expand their Travel Service Offerings
PUNE, India, Sept. 4, 2019/PRNewswire/ — Vervotech, the emerging travel technology company known for its AI-based offerings, today announced that udChalo, a brand of UpCurve Business Services, an Online Travel portal for Defense personnel, has selected Vervotech’s NEXUS Platform to launch its hotel service offerings for its valued customers in the Armed Forces. Earlier this year, Vervotech Solutions launched a new-edge Travel technology platform – NEXUS, a single API to connect to all suppliers. udChalo was looking for a solution that would allow themselves to connect to the best content sources and make them available for their customers. In addition, to continue to thrive in the quickly evolving and fast-growing global travel industry, the company needed a platform to accelerate bookings and optimize their commercial relationships with the company’s travel partners like Oyo and Fab Hotels, to name a few. “udChalo aims at making life simpler by building a convenient and cost-effective platform for the soldiers to access travel services and Vervotech is helping us achieve this goal for our Hotels offering,” said Varun Jain, udChalo’s Founder and CEO. “Through our partnership with udChalo, we are very proud to partner with and offer our services to Defense personnel. As a company, we aim to provide the Armed Forces travelers who book through the channel of udChalo with the best search speeds, up-time, and accuracy of all the information in a booking flow,” said Sanjay Ghare, CEO of Vervotech. udChalo – founded in Sept 2012 – to honor the brave men for their hard work, dedication, sacrifice and their unwavering families for the sacrifices they make for the nation’s safeguard, and the graduates from the Army Institute of Technology. udChalo partnered with the travel suppliers to provide concessional travel booking services exclusively to soldiers for all their travel needs and is proud to be the ‘Recognized Travel Partner for Indian Armed Forces’. udChalo – www.udchalo.com – is rated among India’s 10 Most Promising Online Ticket Booking Companies in 2019 by Silicon India and was chosen ‘Travel startup of the year 2019’ by Entrepreneur India.Vervotech Mappings is a leading Hotel Mapping and Room Mapping API that leverages the power of AI and ML to quickly and accurately identify each property listing through the verification of multiple parameters. With one of the industry’s best coverage of 98% and an accuracy of 99.999%, Vervotech Mappings is quickly becoming the mapping software of choice for all leading global companies operating in the travel and hospitality industry. To learn more about Vervotech Mappings and the ways it can enhance your business in the long run contact us: sales@vervotech.com
Vervotech Expands its Global Reach with New Integrations
PUNE, India, Aug. 5, 2019 /PRNewswire/ — Vervotech, an India-based travel technology company, is expanding its offerings with new supplier integrations by adding an additional 13 suppliers to its flagship product, NEXUS – A Hotel content aggregation API Platform. Newly onboarded suppliers include WebBeds, Priceline, TravCo, Miki, Agoda, CTrip, OYO, Fab Hotels, Smyrooms, Quantum Reservations, Red Apple, Innstant Travel and Nuitee. NEXUS now offers a total of 900,000 unique hotel properties across 200 countries to its clients. NEXUS, a unified API product that comes pre-connected with hotel content suppliers, aims at transforming a travel agency’s business with its 3 main features: A Unified API Solution – The platform provides access to all major hotel content aggregators through a single integration. Travel agencies no longer need to integrate a supplier individually, thereby making NEXUS, the only hotel content API they will ever need. Incredible Search Speeds – NEXUS promises to serve hotel search results at speeds that are unmatched in the industry, thereby enhancing the overall user experience. Artificial Intelligence to Maximize Conversions – The product leverages artificial intelligence to help travel agencies price their inventory correctly thereby helping businesses maximize conversions and positively impact their bottom line. Vervotech is planning to add 20 additional suppliers by the end of 2019, to expand NEXUS’ reach to a wide variety of hotels around the world. The solution allows travel businesses to operate varied business models by providing support for multi-currency environments. Positioning itself more and more as a key player in the competitive online travel technology market, Vervotech caters majorly to online travel agencies, corporate travel business, loyalty companies, Destination management companies & B2B Travel agencies. With an extremely capable team, innovative product plans and an expanding list of customers, Vervotech is clearly set to succeed. Vervotech Mappings is a leading Hotel Mapping and Room Mapping API that leverages the power of AI and ML to quickly and accurately identify each property listing through the verification of multiple parameters. With one of the industry’s best coverage of 98% and an accuracy of 99.999%, Vervotech Mappings is quickly becoming the mapping software of choice for all leading global companies operating in the travel and hospitality industry. To learn more about Vervotech Mappings and the ways it can enhance your business in the long run contact us: sales@vervotech.com
