Hoteliers are overwhelmingly committed to commission payments to travel agents, a survey of more than 2,400 hotels and hotel chains by the leading hotel commission processing specialist Net Trans has revealed. No fewer than 95 per cent of the 2,459 respondents said they pay commission to agents today and 96 per cent rated agents as important partners. Furthermore, 85 per cent predicted that the revenue on which they pay commission to agents will either stay the same or grow.  

‘The results to our survey show the relationship between hotels and travel agents remains rock solid,’ says Martin Jorgensen, chief executive officer of Net Trans. ‘Hoteliers regard agents as an essential sales channel for filling their rooms every night and are committed to the commission model. The relationship is reciprocated. Separate polling we did earlier this year showed that agents regard hotel commission as their most important source of supplier income.’  

Net Trans also tested a perception among some agents that independent hotels are less likely to pay commission than chain properties. It found that although there was a difference between chains and independents, it was small. For instance, 98 per cent of chain hotels pay commission, while the figure for independent properties is 93 per cent.  

‘We believe Net Trans can take some of the credit for this high figure,’ said Jorgensen. ‘Agents fear independents may not pay commission because they lack the systems to do so. Net Trans solves that problem by providing a very easy mechanism for any hotel to distribute commission to 7,500 agency locations in more than 80 countries. That is why we handle commission for more than 12 million room nights annually.’  

Another interesting finding was that 41 per cent of hotels agreed they sometimes overlook agency commission for rooms not booked via global distribution systems. Hotels with GDS connectivity also take agency bookings by phone, fax or Internet for numerous reasons, but are more likely to overlook paying commission for them. Net Trans is able to trace both GDS and non-GDS bookings and chase non-payment on behalf of agency customers. 

For more press information, please contact Martin Jorgensen on +47 33 34 96 07/+47 90 53 19 97 or at [1] martin.jorgensen@ntrans.com 

About Net TransNet Trans Service AS provides a complete hotel commission recovery and reconciliation service for travel agencies and other hotel booking professionals worldwide. Recovering hotel commission is a challenge for most agents, but Net Trans provides a solution by reconciling all hotel and payment data with agents’ reservations. The result is increased commission revenue and lowered cost of recovery through automation, dedicated expertise and significant economies of scale.