WIT – WEB IN TRAVEL : TripAdvisor Connect gives small hotels the edge, makes it “credible alternative” to OTAs.

Its a great idea for small hotels; now with TripAdvisor (TA) connect hotels can have their own booking engine pop-up when travellers click the book now button of TA. But the process of getting your booking engine approved is bogged down with over 200 internet booking engines from 48 countries all trying t get approved.

But is it worth the effort. Its an online application and often nothing seems to happening. Morris Sim, of Circos Brand Karma, said, “With TripAdvisor Connect, independent hoteliers now have a low-cost method to shift customer online bookings from OTAs to their own booking engine. This makes TripAdvisor a credible alternative channel to OTAs. Because TripAdvisor has an extraordinary amount of user-generated content and is a must-visit resource for travelers researching where to go, if a hotel has a good reputation, its booking engine now has a fair chance to earn its share of the wallet.”