HOTEL groups have so far shied away from commenting on the recent statement by hotel booking agent GTA’s Thailand and Indochina team on stop sell policy (TTG Asia e-Daily, July 29).
Accor, Centara Hotels and Resorts and Onyx Hospitality Group informed TTG Asia e-Daily that they were reviewing the situation, while Dusit International declined to comment.
Accor explained that the matter was a complicated one, and was dependent on the booking situation at each of its hotels in different locations. Accor, however, stressed the need to honour allotment contracts with agents.
Chris Bailey, Centara Hotels and Resorts sales and marketing senior vice-president, said: “We will need to review our current trading situation with GTA to evaluate their effectiveness as a distributor of our product.”
Starwood Hotels and Resorts said it was “aware and would comply with the GTA statement”, but stopped short of commenting further by moving on to reiterate its online marketing strategies to attract more direct bookings via its branded websites.
A source from a destination management company, who asked not to be named, said hotels were partly to blame for the current standoff.
The source explained that some properties in popular destinations such as Phuket had been constantly putting up stop sell orders, and their actions might have upset agents holding allotment contracts.
By Sirima Eamtako
