The service, which launched in January and is currently running on 300 hotel sites, claims to boost direct bookings by up to 35 per cent because it enables hotels to match prices offered by OTA's (online travel agents).
Hotels integrating the widget into their website are able to display live prices from three OTAs during the booking process. Once a guest searches for date availability on a hotel's webstie, Triptease scans the web for comparable up-to-date prices and, if a cheaper price is found elsewhere, it allows the hotel to match it.
“Our goal is to bring pricing transparency to the market," said Triptease co-founder Charlie Osmond. "This is great for consumers. They clearly feel reassured by the meta-like experience are more likely to make an immediate booking as a result."
Osmond said initial tests had shown an immediate increase in conversion from search to booking, reduced exit rates from each hotel's website and led to higher revenue.
“We’ve noticed an especially pronounced impact on returning visitors, as they progress along the booking funnel,” he added.
Exits
Since trialling the service, Lateral City Apartments in Edinburgh said it had lost less direct bookings to OTAs.
"We saw our booking page exit rate fall by 25 per cent in the first month and have continued to see more direct bookings month on month," said Lateral City's Julie Grieve.
Triptease said it had accelerated its development of the product, based on its initial success with Price Check now also available in French, German, Spanish, Dutch and Italian.
Room auction site
The news of Triptease's success comes as room auction website Roombid launches. The new site is designed to give hoteliers an alternative to paying high rates to OTAs by offering them the chance to sell their rooms for the best rate while paying just 5 per cent commission.
Roombid works by allowing hotels to upload offers with a minimum bid. Users who bid the highest will be the offer’s final buyers and will then be directed through the site to deal directly with the hotel. The more offers hotels make available on the website, the more chances they have to fill rooms during quieter periods, says Roombid.
Founder Roger Murphy said: "It is the perfect solution for both hotel customers and hoteliers, it’s a win-win situation for both since both will have the best deal available”