A new industry platform has been unveiled which allows hotel systems and online booking channels to connect directly over the web without needing to use third party distribution intermediaries.
SiteMinder unveils new cloud-based hotel distribution platform
A new industry platform has been unveiled which allows hotel systems and online booking channels to connect directly over the web without needing to use third party distribution intermediaries.
The cloud-based Room Distribution Exchange (RDX) has been developed by global hotel distributor SiteMinder.
Managing Director Mike Ford said: “The launch of RDX ushers in a new era for online distribution in the global hotel industry.
“For a long while, the same systems have dominated distribution in the hotel industry without any significant innovation to differentiate them.
“Every once in a while, a technology ‘game changer’ redefines the way business is done in an industry, bringing higher efficiency, lower cost and greater control. For distribution in the hotel industry, RDX is such a technology product.
“This is a very appropriate time to be launching RDX given the importance of online and other emerging channels for hotels around the world.”
The RDX allows Property Management Systems (PMS) and Central Reservation Systems (CRS) vendors, as well as hotel chains with bespoke CRSs, to operate and support their own branded distribution platform.
This provides two-way, seamless connectivity to hundreds of channels including online travel agents, wholesalers, GDS systems, and social media channels.
Ford said: “It was only a matter of time before online distribution for hotels became a commodity item. Technology barriers and process complexity have hindered this until now.
“RDX is the first real step towards establishing online distribution as a commodity because the platform shields the PMS, CRS and hotel chain systems from the complexity inherent in connecting hundreds of disparate systems, and allows them to operate the system as their own without third parties required to facilitate the connectivity.”
He claimed: “With the launch of RDX, it has become pointless for hotel systems to try and reinvent the wheel by each of them trying to build seamless distribution to hundreds of complex channels.
“They can gain direct distribution, effortlessly integrated with their own system through RDX, much more cheaply and more reliably than they can do it themselves.
“Good distribution is extremely complex and expensive to get right, something that the majority of hotel reservation system vendors and hotel IT departments don’t have the expertise, time or resources to deal with.”
