Expedia CEO Peter Kern pled his case to hotel owners Monday: Take seriously the billion-dollar issue of wholesale rates being misused online.
“It’s a growing problem,” Kern said Monday. “There is a massive amount of rates leaking out.”
Kern spoke on-stage at the Americas Lodging Investment Summit (ALIS) in Los Angeles. It was the first time the head of a major online travel agency was invited to speak at the conference — arguably the largest one for hotel owners and developers.
Some backstory: Hotels have long set aside some rooms at discounted wholesale rates for contracted partners to offer to specific, coveted travelers. A hotel might offer wholesale rates to a tour operator to bundle with a flight in a discounted vacation package, for example.
Kern complains that some agencies are breaking the rules.
“Wholesale rates get out in the world where…