Aggregator
→ Go! Category:Hotel info
→ Go! Running competition
What is an aggregator?
An aggregator is a proximity based motel and hotel meta search engine that searches travel websites, hotel-websites, airlines etc. for availability and (the best) rates available. They are in fact the new 'middle man', the new shops, where you can compare offers, rates, availability etc.
They do much more then just 'reproducing' the data. The offer the customers filters and additional information (reviews, maps, cross-products etc) and they offer the industry possibilities to promote their products.
The business-models is mostly fee-based, or commission. So each client (or click) they bring to a hotel, they get a rewarding.
Best rates
To make the sites more attractive, most aggregators not only ask for a fee paid by the supplier, but they also ask for special rates of special guarantees. So many times your hotel will only be listed if you do guarantee that the rate offered on their platform is the lowest of all the channels. So even on your own websites you are not allowed to undercut this rate. So this also means a high risk of dependency on the aggregator, being a supplier. The difference between an OTA (online tour operator) and an aggregator is sometimes hard to tell. As all of this is online, new developments and business models are developed every day.
List of aggregators Popular aggregators are:
Deal sites
There is also a large number of 'deal sites' like Groupon. They have a selected offer only and do not compare.
→ GO! top of this page
