Distribution
What is rate parity?
Rate parity is the practice of offering the same price for the same room, dates and conditions on every public sales channel, including OTAs and the hotel's own website. Many OTA contracts require it, and visible differences can push a hotel down in OTA search results.
What breaks parity
Most parity problems come from the hotel's own setup rather than from an OTA discounting: a mobile-only rate, stacked promotions, a package that splits differently on one channel, or currency rounding. See OTA rate parity without the pain.
Staying in parity
Set rates in one place and let the channel manager distribute them. Derive promotional rates from a single best available rate so that one change updates every channel.
Common questions
Can I offer a lower rate on my own website?
It depends on your OTA contracts and local law. Many hotels offer extra value to direct guests, such as breakfast or late check-out, instead of a lower public price.
Related terms
- Channel managerA channel manager is software that connects a hotel to its online travel agencies (OTAs). It sends the hotel's rates and availability to every channel at once and passes bookings, changes and cancellations back, so the same room is not sold twice.
- BAR (best available rate)BAR, or best available rate, is the lowest rate a hotel offers to the general public for a given date without restrictions such as prepayment or a minimum stay. It changes with demand, and most other rate plans are set as a discount or premium to it.
- Stop-sellA stop-sell is an instruction to stop selling a room type or rate plan for particular dates, on one channel or all of them, even though rooms may still be available. Hotels use it to protect inventory for higher-value bookings or to prevent overbooking.
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