Abstract
Research background: The interaction between hotels and the online travel agencies (OTAs) influences the hotel sales, creating dependencies, which the hotel managers are reluctant to accept. The indicators that evaluate urban hotel sales in Bulgaria in the scope of partnership with OTA are examined. The influence of the modern digital tools to enhance business performance results is reviewed. Purpose of the article: Focusing on Bulgarian urban hotels, the research measures the impact of diverse factors for shaping an adequate business model of an urban hotel. The effect of the share of the hotel sales via OTA platforms, the number of OTAs used, the occupancy rate, the RevPAR and the Booking.com rating score is considered. Finding an appropriate model for digital behavior of urban hotel enterprises is one of the aims of the survey. Methods: A questionnaire distributed among urban hotels situated in industrial towns of Bulgaria is conducted. Linear regression and logistic regression methods are applied for the purpose of the study. Findings & Value added: The importance of channel manager technology for business metrics in this sector is concerned. Three generalized hotel operating models are extracted. It is concluded that there is a necessity for constant management and review of the hotel - OTA relations.
Highlights
Contemporary hotels have adjusted their business operations in accordance with the presence of online travel agencies
We aim to find statistically important correlations among a diverse amount of factors and variables including the share of sales via online travel agencies (OTAs), the number of OTA platforms used by urban hotels, the price of hotel room, the occupancy rate, the star category, the number of hotel rooms, RevPAR and the Booking.com rating score of the hotels
The study is focused on the analysis and the evaluation of the dependencies that arise between urban hotels and OTAs in Bulgaria
Summary
Contemporary hotels have adjusted their business operations in accordance with the presence of online travel agencies. According to many studies in the last decade an increasing share of sales via OTA distribution channels is observed and this process is constantly tracked by researchers such as Roland Shegg (2020), Stangl, Inversini and Schegg (2016), Mellinas (2019), MartinFuentes and Mellinas (2018) and many others. The logistic relations between the presence of a channel manager technology and the above mentioned variables of hotel operations are examined. The aim of the study is to outline the hotel enterprises that extract the most from their relations with OTA, as they are managing a stable and significant cooperation with the travel agents
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