Quendoo B2B – a new era in direct connection between hotels and tour operators

Interview by BG Tourism

Hello, Mr. Varbanov! Last week you announced that you have already launched your new product Quendoo B2B. Tell me what is the idea of ​​it?

Goryan Varbanov: The idea is really quite simple. Providing an opportunity for hotels and their distributors - tour operators and travel agencies, to exchange prices and availability on the one hand and reservations on the other in real time. This functionality is actually an addition to our channel manager, which many of our customers use. It's really quite illogical when we send availability and prices and receive bookings from booking.com, that we can't offer the same functionality for tour operators and travel agencies.

Pavel Nonchev: Here I can add that Bulgaria has lacked a similar instrument for many years. Integrations between travel agents and tour operators are a fact, as well as integrations of various hotel software with their PMSs, but there was a lack of connection between these two "ecosystems". We continue to live in an environment where bookings are enquired, sent and confirmed by phone or email. Good practices in many tourist destinations enable more things in the chain to be automated. This is what we are doing now. Our first step is the connection between Bulgarian hotels with Bulgarian and Romanian tour operators/travel agents. 

What would be the advantages for tour operators and hotels that join the system?

Pavel Nonchev: First, we save dozens of man-hours of work per week for both sides. But this is not even the most significant advantage. The bigger one is that such platforms lead to higher turnover. Tour operators and travel agents need to be competitive with OTAs. One of the advantages of Booking.com, for example, is that they have prices and availability from hotels in real time. Not to mention that in a world of dynamic pricing, this is nearly impossible to arrange via email or phone. Super last minute sales are also an elusive goal for tour operators. Typically, this volume of bookings goes through OTAs and hotel websites.

Hotels, on the other hand, being able to flexibly manage tour operators as distribution channels, can make the most of it, especially during periods of low demand. Why, since we release mobile prices through hotel sites and Booking.com, don't we also do it through tour operators. Why, if we decide to release a lower price with a non-refundable payment policy, don't we do it with a few clicks and through a tour operator. Hotels want to dynamically manage their prices and availability because they know that this way they can extract maximum profit. With good Revenue Management, tour operators become an excellent distribution channel with an affordable customer acquisition cost that is competitive with OTA acquisition.

Goryan Varbanov: Pavel very well described the real problem that we solve with Quendoo B2B, but I would like to add one more advantage. Quendoo B2B is actually a marketplace where hotels and tour operators can easily have more partners and find new markets. Hotels and tour operators are visible to each other on the platform and it is very easy to establish contact and start working with a participant from the platform.

You said that you are testing Quendoo B2B in a real environment, with different partners? What are the reviews?

Goryan Varbanov: We presented the platform officially at the tourist exhibitions in Bucharest and Sofia, reporting huge interest from both hotels and tour operators. I want to emphasize that I expect such platforms to be proven to lead to more business for both countries and it is not difficult for Bulgarian hoteliers to see the benefits. 

How can hoteliers and tour operators start working with Quendoo B2B?

Goryan Varbanov: In order to start using the platform for tour operators, it is necessary to create an account in the system. This can be done by following the "registration" link. For hotels that already use Quendoo, it is necessary to create a rate that they want to offer for distribution through Quendoo B2B and publish it. For hotels that are not yet using Quendoo, we will be happy to discuss cooperation opportunities.

Pavel Nonchev: Currently the platform is working and completely free. Anyone interested can log in and use it. We are also open to all tour operators who want direct API integration. We are currently doing one with Novoton and Solvex, for example. Separately, we have twenty tour operators who already have accounts and make reservations through the platform.