InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) said that it has taken
share from the OTAs since the company began offering discounted rates for
direct bookings in the spring.
The company said its percentage of direct web bookings has risen
2 points, and that the percentage of OTA bookings has fallen by the same amount.
IHG launched its Your Rate by IHG Rewards Club, which offers
discounts for loyalty members who book direct, in May in the Americas and
Europe, and will be rolling out the program in the rest of the world throughout
the rest of the year. Travel agents have access to the discounted rates in the
GDSs.
IHG CEO Richard Solomons said during Tuesday’s
second-quarter earnings call that the effort “lets us address the misleading
claim that OTAs often offer lower prices.”
The company also said revenue via mobile bookings for the
first half of 2016 surged 32% from a year earlier.