Disparities in holiday hotels are not just a problem of intermediaries: they reflect a lack of control, inconsistencies in distribution, and low-strategy revenue decisions. The holiday sector experiences this as an “eternal challenge,” but there are ways to diagnose and mitigate it.
The days change, the channels change, the intermediaries change… and suddenly your rate isn’t the same everywhere. This phenomenon is as common as it is frustrating and has earned the title of “The eternal challenge of the sector.” We explored it recently in our latest article for Smart Travel News: How long do disparities in holidays last? ↗
Why Disparities in Holiday Hotels Are a Never-Ending Challenge
It isn’t simply a failure of OTAs or a human error: disparities reflect a complex interaction of factors that the holiday sector experiences more intensely than urban hotels:
B2B to B2C Resale: Many hotels sell packages or rooms to intermediaries (tour operators, B2B agencies), who then resell to the final consumer. Each resale can apply extra discounts, promotions, or different fees, generating variability that the hotel can no longer control directly — perceived as disparity across sales channels.
Seasonality and Fluctuating Demand: Holidays aren’t the same every day. During peaks, some channels automatically adjust prices, while others do not, increasing discrepancies. Additionally, varying rates across different contracts change from one period to another, often confusing the reservations team and making it difficult to manually detect disparities.
Multiple Channels: From online agencies to your own website and metasearch engines, each channel displays rates, promotions, and rules differently. The result: inconsistent pricing that guests notice and remember.
Lack of Centralised Visibility: Many hotels still operate with disconnected systems, making it hard to control and align prices across all points of sale.
Manual Interventions: Last-minute changes, local promotions, or spot adjustments are unavoidable, but if they’re uncoordinated, gaps increase.
All of this makes disparities a recurring problem, even for hotels following strong revenue practices. The consequences are customer frustration, a risk of lost trust and online reputation, and a tangible impact on revenue.
How to Tackle It: Strategy and Visibility as Allies
There are no magic solutions or secret formulas. What exists are tools and strategies that help you regain control.
Constant Diagnosis
Before acting, you need to see where and how disparities occur. Having a clear view of your prices and comparing them with the market is the first step to prioritising actions. Tools such as rate parity solutions can organise and display this information for you.
Rules and Smart Automation
Set up alerts to notify you of sudden disparities so action can be taken immediately. Predefined rules that manage and limit inventory according to seasonality, occupancy, and customer segmentation prevent manual errors and maintain consistency across channels.
Data Centralisation
When rate, availability, and promotion information is connected and accessible in real time, you can react quickly and make informed decisions. This not only reduces disparities but also uncovers sales opportunities that previously went unnoticed. An RMS that integrates quotas and inventory management, automatic pricing, BI with alerts, and a Rate Shopper with parity and online reputation tools can provide this. You don’t need all functionalities, but having them in one place saves time and simplifies revenue management.
Transparency and Communication
An informed guest perceives coherence. If a price varies for understandable reasons (temporary promotion, special package, low season) rather than oversight, it’s less likely to be seen negatively. Simply communicating, for example, that a rate is “green” and carries a higher cost due to sustainable commitments, reduces sensitivity to perceived overpricing. This is the essence of “Ethical Rate Fencing.”
In short: The problem won’t disappear overnight, but it can be managed with clarity, technology, and strategy. It isn’t about controlling everything, but about knowing where to look, what to prioritise, and how to align revenue without overloading your team — creating fluidity in disparity management in holiday hotels.
