CDS does not apply any mark-up !

By integrating the CDS distribution base, the hotelier retains control of its price list. He is the one who sets the distribution rates for his rooms.

The hotel price list is extremely complex, we will focus here only on the corporate segment .

The hotelier sets the distribution rates for his rooms according to four types:

• the agency rate charged in the GDS;
• the corporate rate negotiated by the company;
• the price of OTAs (Booking.com and Expedia);
• the BAR – Best Available Rate -, i.e. the best rate of the day.

Each of its four rates can be different. It is up to the hotelier to choose whether or not to practice rate parity by deciding whether these rates are the same or not.

On all of this grid, which are given to the companies and the distributor, CDS does not apply any mark-up

The mark-up is an increase applied by the distributor to the prices set by the hotelier. The distributor can be a travel agency or a hotel reservation centre.

For the sake of pricing transparency, CDS Groupe has made the strong choice never to apply mark-up

If the mark-up allows the distributor to increase his income, it provides two major inconveniences:

• the traveler does not find the same prices as on public sites and does not understand why;
• the buyer does not find his negotiated prices and is therefore not satisfied.

By refusing to apply a surcharge, CDS makes a commitment to its customers and travelers in the concern for the practice of transparency which characterizes it. This price transparency is what establishes a bond of trust between the company, its travelers, the platform and the hotelier.