BedLinker: A marketplace for midsize players in the travel business

There was a time when the role of the travel agent was at the heart of the tourism industry. From bagging the best hotel rates to finding the most optimum modes of internal travel and planning an effective itinerary; the travel agent was the imminent choreographer of this ballad called, ‘annual vacation’.

Then came in the digital revolution, and the online travel agents aka OTAs swept the tourism industry like a storm. Now instead of going directly to hotels and tour operators for bookings, they simply log in to one of the 21st century OTAs.

Thus hotels, especially smaller and midsize ones, struggled to keep up their B2B sales and given the size of their operations developing individual tech solutions was not fully feasible either.

But here comes their messiah.

A travel tech startup from the economic hub of Vietnam, BedLinker aims to empower travel buyers and sellers to create their own seamless, configurable purchasing and distribution experience through its marketplace.

Started by Thuan Doa, who has more than 15 years of expertise in hospitality management, BedLinker.com is an innovative global travel trade marketplace offering platform for global wholesalers, suppliers and buyers to connect and travel content such as hotels, tours, and activities under one roof.

Since its launch in March 2017, BedLinker’s B2B hotel inventory has over 170,000 hotels in over 185 destination countries, and they all come with live availability and instant booking confirmation. Dao says their platform is empowered with technology to handle over 47,000,000 room bookings annually.

In addition to stay and sightseeing, BedLinker also provides facilities to book holiday packages, transfers, and travel insurance, with the right pricing and inventory, which will allow you to offer your customers a complete package at competitive pricing.

The B2B tours and activities reservation offering of BedLinker already consists of more than 10,000 tours and excursions listing at attractive wholesale rates from over 300 travel destinations from verified suppliers and DMC’s.

“B2B bookings still occupy about 80% of total bookings”

Thuan says, “B2B bookings still occupy about 80% of total bookings for hotels and even more so for resorts.” Hotels are hesitant to go the OTA route as the commissions are high, usually ranging from 20-25% per booking, he added. Hence, BedLinker provides a bed allocation software for hoteliers to manage their B2B bookings at a nominal monthly subscription cost. OTAs are popular for their promos and deals which in turn plunges the hotel’s net return rate — sometimes even lower than their wholesale rate.

Equipped with features like instant chat facilities, user reviews, advanced sorting and filtering options and a fast and hassle free booking experience; BedLinker’s online booking platforms also connects smaller agents and operators to hotels who may earlier not have the bandwidth to manage them.

Where next?

Small hotels and independent resorts don’t have the tech capabilities these times demand, and BedLinker aims to fill this gap by enabling tech solutions. While 90% of their current business comes from the likes of Vinpearl, FLC, Little Hoi An Group and Zen Diamond Suites in Vietnam; they are currently in seed funding stage and wish to expand to Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines, where they have tested the market and hope to be successful.

Thuan said: “We continue to innovate new travel products and widen our buyers and sellers network and we are on the way to making first-of-its-kind, travel marketplace that effectively meets the needs and preferences of buyers and sellers. Our principle is simple: More bookings, More revenue, more profits.”

So whether it is hotel reservations or sightseeing tours, BedLinker offers you a powerful platform with the best in market rates, to effectively serve the needs of your customers on a daily basis.