How open distribution helps hotels regain selling power

Precise room selection on your preferred floor with exact views and amenities.

Custom check-in and checkout times, no questions asked.

Digital room keys and payments that make check-in and checkout simple, secure and seamless.

All enabled by better data, from photos and features to rates and availability, that’s available to everyone: room sellers, hotels and guests.

This is travel’s imminent future - and it’s happening because new technology infrastructure is opening hotel distribution to a world of possibilities. The overdue trend toward open distribution is quickly reimagining what it looks like to sell a hotel room from every angle.

Open for business

Much like open banking, open distribution takes data that was once heavily protected by gatekeepers and middlemen and makes it quickly and easily accessible. This means it’s fast and simple for any hotel and room seller in the world to work together.

Open distribution is moving the industry forward in ways that bed banks, affiliate programs, channel managers and other third-party solutions have never been able to. Because rather than trying to fix travel by incorporating a new element into the bloated, closed framework that has existed for decades, open distribution is built on new foundations that reimagine how hotel selling works from the ground up.

Room rates, availability, photos, bookings, payments - in fact, everything you need to start selling hotels - can now be shared by hotels and room sellers in minutes rather than months.

Hotels can easily reach the guests that are right for them, without ceding control and huge chunks of each booking to the outdated infrastructure they’ve had to rely on to distribute their rooms.

Room sellers can build a unique inventory of hotels that attracts their ideal guests while building new features that will set them apart from the competition. And restless travelers can finally enjoy these features - from booking to checkout - that help travel fit into their lives, not the other way around.

At Impala, our API is connecting travel sellers to thousands of hotels around the world. And while their specific approaches differ, players like HyperGuest and Roibos recognize how an open approach can improve on the legacy infrastructure.

Open distribution isn’t just one avenue into the future of travel — it’s the avenue.

Infrastructure, access, innovation

Direct access to data is driving innovation in travel and helping new players carve out unique visions in ways that were impossible before.

We recently onboarded RemoteDream, an emerging startup that helps remote workers find and book the best hotels and hostels for their needs.

The company co-founder Joeri Nanov told us they were able to go from offering zero to hundreds of locations in a matter of weeks — an acceleration that was possible because they no longer needed to integrate to over 60 channel managers.

When browsing the RemoteDream platform, guests now have access to information that’s important to them and their search, from which hotels have the best attached co-working spaces and bars to what their room will actually look like. Properties that work with RemoteDream now have the ability to attract a new type of customer that will stay longer and spend more time dining and working on site.

Direct relationships mean more control

For room sellers, the equation is simple: Open distribution means better access to more hotels in much less time. But as we’ve seen, this model built on direct connections also gives hotels more control over their bookings and their guests than has ever been possible.

One reason? Hotels have more choice over where to sell their rooms. That makes it easier for them to find the kinds of guests they want to target, and it means reduced reliance on just one or two giant online travel agencies — and the hefty commissions they charge.

The way forward

Impala's hotels in over 80 countries are feeling the change and gaining control of their bookings. And guests are finally being given the kinds of experiences they’ve dreamed of for so long.

The momentum is incredible — and it’s thrilling to realize just how much is about to change. With open distribution, the power is finally tipping back in favor of the hotels and room sellers that actually make travel possible. And that’s the only way forward.