via Expedia CEO on Changing the Relationship With Hotels – Skift.

According to Dara Khosrowshahi, CEO of Expedia

“Expedia will be more flexible in the way it works with hotels in the future, and that the standard way Expedia and hotels did business in the past will become less of a factor in the future.

“I think that the standard retail rate model in general, which is the way we’ve done business for the last 10 years, is going to become a smaller part of the way we do business going forward,” Khosrowshahi said.

I got wind of this when Expedia called a small villa apartment resort work with. A year ago they would not talk to properties with less that 20 rooms, now they are calling up a small resort with 7 villa apartments, PinsettiaApartments.com, and wanting to fly in and meet with management. How things have changed. Expedia lost the contract with the Tourism board and now is looking for ways to get back in the market by approaching the hotels directly, even the small ones. And the new commission structure they say starts at 15%. A long way from 35% hotel are paying. Certainly things are moving.

I’ll be watching this and let you know how it unfolds.