Is bidroom.com, Europe’s fastest growing OTA about to disrupt Booking.com and Expedia’s stranglehold, by connecting hotels directly with guests?
As Priceline and Expedia continue their consolidation as the two dominant Ota´s, who are currently at present purchasing up all their competitors around them. Dependency for hotels on these two major companies will continue, especially if the rumors of Priceline´s possible acquisition of Tripadvisor prove to come true. So it was a breath of fresh air when I caught up with Michael Ros and Casper Knieriem who are the founders of a new and exciting company called Bidroom.com, offering hotels the opportunity to gain lower commissions reservations, which in some cases could be less than what hotels are paying for receiving bookings directly online.
I sat down with Michael & Casper to find out more:
Who are the founders and what are their backgrounds?
We are both entrepreneurs with a proven track record in the hospitality and travel industry. Having already founded a successful travel company together, TravelService, we possess a wealth of insider knowledge about the hotel sector and plenty of passion for driving the business forward.
(Michael) I have a lot of experience in negotiating at a corporate business level. I started my first company when I was 18. From the age of 24 I worked for four years for a large international enterprise and was responsible for a turnover of 45 million euros per year. After that, I founded the online travel agency Travelservice.
(Casper) After studying Business Administration at the Erasmus University in Rotterdam, I started my outsourcing company for financial services, which I sold in 2007. I also founded the online travel agency Travelservice along with Michael.
How receptive have hoteliers been to Bidroom?
Hotels are fed up with high commissions, restrictive contracts, and loss of control of their brands, and are desperate for alternatives to these domineering OTAs. Bidroom is the solution, allowing hotels to offer lower prices direct to customers and yet make more profit – a win-win for both sides. Bidroom can become the 'white knight' of a stressed industry, as well as the cheapest booking channel for guests. Bidroom disrupts the high commission model by introducing a standard 2% commission for all hotels. Due to our exceptionally small fee, hotels all over the world have been eager to join our platform. Every day we are getting around 100 – 150 hotels who are signing up!
What has been your progress to date?
We have launched a minimum viable product in January 2014 and received extensive press coverage and an overwhelmingly positive reaction from both hotels and customers. Since the launch, we have received international press coverage and was nominated for the Accenture Innovation Award, Sprout Challenger Award, Zoover Awards, and The Next Web Startup Awards.
There is clearly a need for a platform such as Bidroom. The pilot website covered only 60 cities. Hotels made over 12,000 offers to guests in 5 months – with no marketing spend at all. Bookings have been made, and we have clients who have used Bidroom several times. We have been working on a brand new website that addresses all the issues and recommendations of hotels and guests using our current pilot site, from January 2016 this new website was launched. Some figures:
Members using Bidroom: 432.000
Hotel which signed up: +/- 12670
How are travelers discovering Bidroom?
Bidroom's marketing is based on a cheeky but forceful message of 'kicking out the middleman' and getting the cheapest deals – direct from hotels. We will be the whistleblowers of this industry, following the marketing approach of companies like Transferwise.com (Foreign Exchange) and Uber. Online marketing will include Facebook advertising and promotions. Offline marketing will include in-flight magazines, trade fairs and guerrilla marketing campaigns.
About Bidroom
Bidroom provides a platform that connects travelers in need of a hotel with hotels in need of guests. A platform that stands for simplicity, flexibility, and openness. A platform that brings an end to the hidden costs and hassle of traditional booking websites. No more frustration from comparing prices on multiple sites and searching the internet for the best deals. With Bidroom, guests always know they are receiving the lowest available rate for their booking. Users are granted a direct overview of the prices listed on competitor websites so that they can make the right choice. Transparency is the core principle behind Bidroom.
We are on a mission to reinvent the way consumers book their stay. We believe that consumers always deserve the best prices. We believe hotels have the right to remain in control of their inventory and pricing. We strive to make the world of online booking a little easier by putting guests directly into contact with hotels.
Bidroom is a revolutionary hotel booking platform that connects travelers directly to hotels at no cost, so both sides get a better deal. Currently, when guests book a hotel online, up to 25 percent of the price they pay goes to the booking website, and not to the hotel. That's just not fair, and it is time to put a stop to it. We are building Bidroom as a highly disruptive, transparent, global booking platform that is set to revolutionize the travel industry and finally create a fair, open way for customers to find great hotel deals, by decreasing removing the commission tot 2 percent and giving the middlemen the boot.
From speaking to Hotel Directors across Europe and their frustration at having little alternatives should get them signing up to companies like Bidroom over the coming months. A new way of thinking for a new generation of reservations.
John kearney
Hotel Sales & Consultancy Specialist - Director of Hotelient
Hotelient
