Competitive Assessment in Demand Management Software for Hotels

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Background

A leader in the travel distribution and information industry was concerned that its market intelligence solution – designed to help hotels know where they stand relative to competing properties on pricing and availability – was losing market share to an aggressive competitor. To determine if the rival had better sources of demand data and was living up to its promises to customers, the company turned to Fuld & Company.

Challenge

Rumors were swirling that the rival had formed close partnerships with several major hotel chains, indicating a potentially more reliable flow of demand data from the property management and booking systems of hotels within those chains. If true, this capability would have significantly harmed Fuld’s client, which relied on GDS data but didn’t capture reservations made through the hotels’ own booking systems or other online channels.

Approach

However, data quality was not the only factor to be considered. Client feedback indicated that the aggressive competitor was not always living up to its promises, especially in the area of responsive, problem-free service.  To effectively counter its archrival, the client needed detailed and well supported analysis of its relative advantages and vulnerabilities.

Fuld & Company set out to confirm or refute the two major rumors circulating in the industry:

• the competitor had in fact secured better, more comprehensive sources of demand data
• its rapid growth had come at the expense of reliable client service.

We interviewed a wide cross-section of major hotel partners, global distribution systems, OTAs (online travel agencies), and independent hotel booking sites to delve into the veracity of both rumors.

Result + Benefits

Our findings enabled the client to develop a workable plan for fending off the competitive threat while creating a proprietary data solution that leapfrogged the rival.

Tags: Competitive Intelligence, Growth Analytics, Information Technology, Market Analysis, Other Industries, Travel & Leisure