LONDON, UK – New hotel distribution platform Fastpayhotels has partnered with the hotel industry’s leading cloud platform, SiteMinder, to meet a growing demand from the hospitality industry for reservations to be paid at the time of booking. The partnership makes Fastpayhotels the only channel available through SiteMinder’s Channel Manager that provides hotels payment at time of booking for their rooms, up to 390 days in advance of stays and with no refunds for cancellations.
Alex Gisbert, co-founder and CEO of Fastpayhotels, says that due to the B2B platform’s focus on dynamic rates and with ninety-nine percent of Fastpayhotels’ sales currently going through channel managers, it was an obvious decision to integrate with the hotel industry’s largest channel management platform.
“The global demand for Fastpayhotels is rapidly growing and we want to leverage the global supply provided by SiteMinder’s Channel Manager to fulfill that demand,” says Mr Gisbert.
“The role of travel agents today is at risk as hotels look to move away from slow-paying bedbanks, booking websites that display incorrect rates because they can’t be updated in real-time, and the inability to access the lowest room rates. Fastpayhotels removes these challenges and we are thrilled SiteMinder’s more than 20,000 hotel customers can now experience the benefits at commission levels below fourteen percent.”
Since its launch into the market earlier this year, Fastpayhotels has been adopted by more than 280 travel operators and more than 4,000 hotels in 21 countries, including Spain, where it quickly attracted local investors and is based in Palma de Mallorca.
Fastpayhotels’ model modernises the relationship between hotels, travel agents and bed banks by replacing static, out-of-date rates with dynamic rates and availability. The model centres exclusively around prepaid, non-refundable rates which Fastpayhotels says are now cheaper than FIT (Free Independent Traveller) rates or Best Available Rates (BAR), and contribute to forty percent of reservations made through travel agents.
Dai Williams, managing director – EMEA at SiteMinder, says, “The dynamics within the travel market have changed, and the hotel distribution and wholesale model is evolving. Fastpayhotels is an exciting channel with low costs that mean listed hotels can improve their online revenue and profitability. SiteMinder is pleased to offer Fastpayhotels as a direct connect for its hotel customers.
