The Channel That Offers the Lowest Online Room Rates: Case Study of Hotels in Hong Kong [Summary]

Regarding the result of the research, hotel managers should provide their lowest room rate to more OTAs in order to expand their customer base. And it appears that some three-star hotels’ room rates are higher than those of 4-star hotels. Since it is hard to track all the price channels, it is recommended to use an automated channel management program to track prices of them and competitors. Also, two approaches are suggested for hotel managers. For hoteliers in three-star hotels, they should pick Cheaptickets, Expedia, and Orbitz to stand out among the search results. However, managers work in four or five-star hotels, they should pick Zuji and Orbiz since they offer the same lowest daily rate almost. Those might prefer to differentiate themselves by providing almost the same low room rate as those of other hotels and higher-level of services or amenities.