[Travel News]: Hotels-backed online search platform Roomkey suspends operations
TheTourAttraction.com aims to provide the latest global travel and free travel news, travel and visa policies, and flight information. We hope to provide insights into tourism market, technology and development trends with everyone by providing the latest relevant information. Despite the raging COVID-19 epidemic in 2020, we always firmly believe that mankind will overcome the disease and the tourism market will definitely recover. TheTourAttraction.com look forward to your attention and support, and witness the development of the global tourism industry with us. Looking forward to the information TheTourAttraction.com provide can help you. We will continue to follow up and obtain the latest data, and look forward to your attention and support.
The following is the [Travel News]: Hotels-backed online search platform Roomkey suspends operations from [Skift] recommended by TheTourAttraction.com:
Suspended search function shouldn’t be read as a sign hotel companies can’t compete against OTAs.
Hotel operators have long battled with online travel agencies, but the OTAs appear to have won the struggle against one hotel-backed competitor.
Roomkey.com is no longer providing hotel search functions, the company announced Monday. But the operational suspension may not equate to a swan song for the hotel booking search engine. Roomkey is “in the process of redefining our business operations,” according to a press release.
Roomkey — a joint venture among Choice Hotels, Hilton, Hyatt, IHG, Marriott, and Wyndham — launched in January 2012 as “an innovative new online hotel search engine that will provide the simplicity, transparency and breadth of choice consumers expect from a search engine” while also booking directly from the hotel companies instead of a third-party site like Priceline.
“The board felt the resources at the company could be used utilized on other strategic opportunities,” Roomkey.com CEO Steve Sickel said in an interview with Skift Monday afternoon. “Given the current uncertain economic environment that’s going on right now, they felt that would be the best decision for the company.”
Roomkey’s suspended search function shouldn’t be read as a sign hotel companies can’t compete against OTAs, Sickel said. He also defended the criticized pop-under business strategy.
“It leveraged an asset — that was a visit that doesn’t turn into a booking — that every brand owner has millions of. It leverages that asset to see if it can monetize into a booking,” he said. “I think that strategy is quite solid.”
The six founding hotel company members behind Roomkey will remain with the company, Sickel added. All six deferred Skift’s request for comment to Sickel.
“I continue to work with the board, and so we’ll see what the board decides to do with this company and whether I’m part of that or not,” he added.