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2011-12-10

Tom Magnuson of Magnuson HotelsIn news from PRWeb London, via Digital Journal, Thomas Magnuson’s Global Hotel Exchange (GHX) announced today thousands of hotels adopting the not even released new online travel agency (OTA).

According to the news, GHX adaptation so far could be in part due to hoteliers’ economic hardships, especially in North America and Europe. Thomas Magnuson (pictured left), CEO of Magnuson Hotels & newcomer GHX, is bent on offering a no cost solution for hotel owners bent on reclaiming their margins.

According to Magnuson, already “thousands of hotels” have signed up for GHX, even though the startup will not officially launch until late January. GHX is previews in the video below.

Magnuson, who with his wife Melissa, founded Magnuson Hotels and transformed the business into the world’s largest chain of independent hotels in less than 7 years. Magnuson had this to add about GHX’s phenomenal signup rate so far:

“The massive number of hotels we are signing daily from dozens of countries clearly indicates a desire to combat a global triple threat of falling demand, lower room rates, and increased OTA fees.”

It’s not secret hoteliers are increasingly disatisfied with OTA and middle man commissions. The resultant instability in the market seems to be where Magnuson is targeting not only the GHX disruption, but increased efforts at growing the Magnuson Hotels numbers and branding as well. The news shines a spotlight on top tier OTAs that charge hoteliers commissions that can sap revenues by as much as one third. Magnuson says hotels lost some $8 billion last year alone in commissions and fees that may have been needless. Of course OTAs, it is accepted, are a valuable channel for business, but Magnuson’s claims do validate the need for another channel.

Global Hotel Exchange, coming early in 2012, is a good example of alternative revenue streams and a channel for marketing hotels. A no cost solution for hotels is simply hard to beat, at least on the B2B side of the equation. As for guest savings, as every open market determines, this will be between the customer and provider, according to Magnuson.

“GHX is a consumer booking platform that will provide ‘market based pricing,’ a simple, fast and transparent way to book a room at a fair market price.” Offered via this release, this pretty much sums up the value for such a market innovation. Hotel owners, at least judging from the response to GHX, may already see the light where their market is concerned.

For more information on Global Hotel Exchange or this news, you may want to consult the original PRWeb release.

A note of disclaimer here: The parent company of Argo Travel is Pamil Visions PR, the AOR for Magnuson and GHX. You can contact Pamil Visions via that link for more information as well. Argophilia Travel News is sponsored by Magnuson & GHX.

Tags: booking platform, GHX, Global Hotel Exchange, hotel bookings, hoteliers, Magnuson Hotels, market conditions, OTA, OTA's, PRWeb, Sponsor News, Thomas Magnuson, Tom Magnuson

About Aleksandr Shatskih

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Trackbacks

  1. Top 10 Added Charges to Spoil Your Holidays says:
    2011-12-30 at 8:31 pm

    […] Eight: Online travel agency fees are not something everyone knows about, but they do exist. Beside the commissions service providers pay the likes of Expedia and Orbitz (sometimes as much as 25%), travelers foot bills so obscure as to be near impossible to understand. This report from a consumer advocate, Vincent McDonald, tells of his experience booking with Expedia. Data Explorers offers still more fee wonderment from Priceline, Hertz, and others. Orbitz and about a million other travel entities were recently fined for advertising that was cloudy and nebulous. Given our involvement in travel, for us, OTA and other travel abuses are at least a 9 out of 10. This is true mainly because extra fees are so unnecessary (see GHX adoption). […]

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