If hotels and B&Bs only offer the best prices via theirown websites, the number of bookings made via OTAs will most likely diminish. But so will the numbers of new customers that they are able to attract. Free riding online booking channels will become the norm and the source of income that OTAs depend on to ensure continued innovation in online services would eventually falter. Less investment would be possible in marketing properties on Google and other search sites, as well as maintaining international customer service standards and support in dozens of languages. What would that do to the international visibility for small, independent hotels or B&Bs, let alone for large chains?


How do consumers benefit?


Booking.com strongly believes that consumers benefit enormously from the transparency offered by online booking platforms. They save valuable time and money, and empower customers to compare before they book.


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But consumers do expect consistent information. Satisfaction levels drop, along with their confidence, if they can’t trust prices between different platforms to be competitive.


Transparency stimulates competition and in the end, leads to better prices for consumers. And Booking.com insists that customers should always have access to the best prices via their platform.


The future is bright


The future for the tourism industry is bright. More and more travellers are looking for accommodations to spend a weekend or a holiday, and the UK government is investing in making the UK an even more attractive destination for foreign tourists.


Customers from every walk of life and every part of the world will continue to discover and book those hidden independent gems in the British countryside, and accommodations - from small independents to international chains - will continue to find new customers and increase their market share, empowering OTAs to go on introducing innovations that bring them all closer together.


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