Illustration of a hotel room - Alexandre GELEBART / 20MINUTES

  • The Fairbooking platform aims to help hoteliers do without Booking, a service often criticized because of a high commission.
  • The Nantes CCI and the Loire-Atlantique departmental council announce that they will take the reins of this platform in order to revive the tourism industry.

The fight is tough. It is even, in their words, "David against Goliath". As the tourism industry crosses its fingers for a more than uncertain summer season, accommodation professionals hope to save the furniture. "After confinement, it is urgent to revive the sector to maintain employment," says Yann Trichard, president of the CCI Nantes-Saint-Nazaire. But not with traditional booking platforms, which take up to 20% commission and harm the profitability and therefore the quality of accommodation. "

To deal with the Booking or Expedia behemoths, the department is betting on Fairbooking. Until then, this website set up by hoteliers gathered in an association was alive, even if some 4,000 professionals (including 300 in Loire-Atlantique) have already registered to try to circumvent the hegemonic but very practical system of large platforms. But Fairbooking will live a new life, announce the CCI and the Loire-Atlantique departmental council, which have just taken the reins. "The creators of the platform may have been too early at the time," explains Philippe Grosvalet, the president (PS) of the departmental council. The Covid crisis, and while we talk a lot about short circuits, must be a great accelerator. We are going to put all our energy into Fairbooking. "

Site redesign

Concretely, the platform therefore aims to facilitate the link between customers and hoteliers and hopes to "put people back at the heart of the relationship by giving back the hands to professionals". In terms of prices, professionals agree to offer the same prices as those offered on Booking or others. It is on the commission that they will be winners since it will be around 5%, after having paid an annual subscription (25 euros). "Everything will be reinvested in the development of its platform and its promotion," promises the CCI, which is committing human and financial resources, in particular for the communication campaign that has just started.

Our summer vacation file

To give the service a boost, registration is free until the end of the year. Time for Fairbooking to redesign its website, improve its referencing, and add essential functionalities, such as the possibility of paying online. "The objective is local, national and then international development, particularly in French-speaking countries," believes Yann Trichard. The president of the Loire-Atlantique department has already committed to promoting Fairbooking to all of his counterparts.

Society

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Economy

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