Analysing the online pricing practices of hotels in Hong Kong

In spite of the general agreement on the importance of online pricing practices to the hotel industry, there are a very limited number of published articles investigating the hotel room rates offered on different online distribution channels. This research note reports on a study that examined the room rates of 45 hotels in Hong Kong in the third and fourth quarters of 2003, offered seven direct and indirect distribution channels. Adopting the rating system of hotels.com, 15 hotels in each of the three-, four-, and five-star categories were selected from the member list of the Hong Kong Hotels Association for examination. Thirty room rates were collected for each hotel on every selected channel. A comparative analysis revealed significant differences in average room rates among different channels. The empirical results indicated that the website of a local travel agent offered the lowest rates on all distribution channels and for all hotel categories.