New Player in NZ Online Accommodation

Jason Travel Media have announced the deployment of a commission-free online accommodation booking application. The new system will benefit small operators as it streamlines allocating rooms to individual outlets or resellers. Last year Jason began online bookings through the acquisition of Holiday Guide and have been working on this current online application ever since.

If you familiar with Wotif.com, New Zealand's largest online booking system you will be asking yourself "How is Jasons offering different?"

Jasons, primarily a travel guide publisher, earns the majority of its revenue through advertising throughout its publication portfolio. Wotif.com on the other hand revenue stream comes from commissions and booking fees.

In the absence of commissions customers can change systems easily as the switching costs of doing so are low. Jasons content is rich in travel information drawing many more would-be holiday markers seeking not only accommodation but information relating to activities and transport within their destination region. This differs greatly from wotif.com which is simply a mechanism for booking discounted online accommodation. I think there are two questions to ask. (1) Will this difference in target market be distinct enough for for the systems to co-exist? (2) Will Jason's advertising revenue model work in the online accommodation booking space?