WebBeds, the global marketplace providing accommodation and ground product distribution services to the travel industry, has launched the first phase of a programme which aspires to reduce rate parity discrepancies to zero.
WebBeds has launched a new online tool to their hotel partners, called “Parity Monitor”, as the first phase of a major initiative within the company to streamline internal processes and improve the speed of resolving parity issues. This new tool will establish the foundations for the development of future automated solutions, with the ultimate goal of achieving zero BRG (best rate guarantee) discrepancies through the WebBeds marketplace.
The Parity Monitor tool will initially serve as a global hub where hotels will submit parity discrepancies to WebBeds. This new tool will be the front end for the newly streamlined internal processes that will track, monitor, report back and quickly resolve rate discrepancies for hotel partners.
A simple dashboard will consolidate and display the status of any submissions, providing clarity and better management reporting for hotels. WebBeds has created a new centralised team that will be dedicated to resolving parity issues raised via the Parity Monitor.
Future developments of the Parity Monitor will include incorporating technology solutions to prevent parity integrity issues occurring in the first place, proactive scanning of the market for rate discrepancies, automated identification and rectification of parity issues, enforcing minimum selling price and tracing opaque rates with buyers across all sales channels.
Daryl Lee, WebBeds CEO, said “WebBeds is very aware of the frustrations that our hotel partners experience when there are rate parity discrepancies in market. Hotels want rate parity to be strong and consistent, particularly given the strategic priorities within their business ecosystem. This new tool is just the start of a programme of work to develop automated technology solutions to proactively prevent, detect and resolve rate parity issues in real time. Achieving zero rate parity discrepancies is an incredibly challenging goal but we want this aspiration to serve as our “north star” internally, to provide focus and drive excellence from our teams. Anything less than this would fall short of expectations our hotel partners have of us.”
