The hotel industry in Mysuru has come together to ward off the perceived ‘predatory’ pricing policies of the online travel aggregators (OTAs) and has dissociated itself with some well-known brands in the market.

It has registered the inventory of rooms with a few more channels that have agreed to stipulated terms and conditions. As a result, hotels in Mysuru have decided that after February 15, the inventory of rooms will be blocked from online travel aggregators who do not adhere to terms.

Ravi Shastri, vice-president, Karnataka Pradesh Hotel and Restaurant Association (KPHRA) said there needs to be a level playing field for ecosystem partners to work in harmony for the sustenance of long-term relationships.

A series of meetings were held by representatives of the hospitality sector in the city and surrounding regions last week and was attended by online aggregators.

“We had issues regarding unviable discounting practices pursued by earlier players who were also holding up payments that have been pending for months though we are supposed to be paid within a week,” said Narayan Gowda, president, Mysuru Hotel Owners’ Association.

The pending payment ranged from a few lakhs to as much as ₹20 lakh in case of one property, he added.

Bhaskar, secretary, Coorg Hotel Association, called for intervention from the government to secure payments amounting to a few crores from aggregators.

The association has chalked out the terms of the member hotels as per which the travel agent commission will be restricted to 15% for Pay at Hotel bookings and 18% for prepaid bookings.

It has also stipulated that schemes like performance-linked bonuses would be discontinued and discounting, if any, is to be offered only by hoteliers and not OTAs.

As on date, 77 member hotels are on board and have tied up with a few OTAs like Yatra, Cleartrip and Booking.com and discontinued their association with other channels.

There are 160 lodges and hotels providing rooms in Mysuru but the number of properties goes up to nearly 340 if service apartments and resorts around the city are included.

Not all properties have websites.

The hospitality sector too has come around to the view that an online presence ensures greater visibility besides opening up market.

Mysuru, being a key tourist destination, stakeholders realise the benefit of online visibility. Besides, a bulk of the bookings happen online through aggregators and hence the latter cannot be ignored either.

“Hence we are not backing off from online travel aggregators and are prepared to register our properties but only with such channels who agree to our terms and conditions,” said Mr. Gowda.