Six Continents To Guarantee The Lowest Rates On Corporate Website

DALLAS— In an effort to decrease consumer confusion and inspire more trust in online purchases, Six Continents Hotels is launching an on-line guarantee on www.6c.com, promising that if travelers find lower rates on any other online distributor other than its own website, Six Continents will not only match the lower rate but will offer an additional 10% off of that price. “Customers are wondering why there are different rates on our website and why those rates are different from those found on wholesale websites,” said Tom Seddon, svp/strategic services. Seddon noted that more than half of wholesale travel buyers, visiting sites like Expedia and HRN, shopped 6c.com first but booked on the third-party site because it offered a lower rate. In addition, unlike what is traditionally reported, Seddon more than 50% of those travel purchasers were business travelers, appoximately half were booking more than three weeks in advance, and morre than 25% were Six Continents Priority Club members. “We need to make sure we’re selling rooms at the right price to the right guest,” he stated. “Consumers aren’t understanding why they don’t get the best deal when they cut out the middle man and go to us directly…It makes them not trust that they’re getting the best deal from us.” Within the next year, the company plans to rollout its online guarantee, requiring hotels to match lower rates that travelers find elsewhere online, for the same day searched on 6c.com. The guarantee exlcudes opaque sites like Priceline or Hotwire. “The hotel will have to honor the rate plus a 10% discount,” he said. — Diana M. Rodriguez