Roomer Offers Market for Unused Hotel Bookings

Roomer, a startup company that provides an online marketplace where people can sell their unused nonrefundable hotel reservations, wants to get travel agencies involved in the process.

Richie Karaburun, managing director of Roomer, said travel agents want to give their customers the best-available rates, “and that is usually the nonrefundable rate.”

But while nonrefundable hotel rates can save money for travelers and their companies, corporate travelers tend to avoid them, for obvious reasons.

Roomer offers a way to recoup all or part of the nonrefundable rate when a change in plans means the traveler can’t use a room they’ve booked.

What’s in it for hotels
Hotel companies agree to participate because they, too, lose out when a guest can’t use a reservation.

For one thing, many travelers don’t bother to cancel since they won’t be getting a refund. That means the hotel can’t resell the room.

In addition, “empty hotel rooms mean empty bars and empty restaurants,” Karaburun said. Some hotels get up to $85 per room night in incremental revenue, he said.

Travel agent tie-in
Most hotels won’t pay agent commission on no-shows, so using Roomer can save the commission for agents. “It’s a cost-mitigation product,” Karaburun said.

Travel agents can either post unused reservations on behalf of their clients or simply promote the service to them, Karaburun said.

Hickory Global Partners is the first travel agency group to work with Roomer, and president Chris Dane called the concept a “win-win” for all concerned.

Free to all, for now
Currently, Roomer is free for all participants – buyers, sellers and hotels.

“At this point, our main goal is to establish a trustworthy marketplace,” Karaburun said.

“But in the near future, we will be implementing a service fee for the seller. It will still be free for hotels and buyers,” he said. “We don’t yet have dates or the amount.”

Expanding to cruise
Roomer plans eventually to expand to the cruise market, another sector with a high rate of incremental revenue.

“I can’t believe how many people don’t buy insurance when they spend thousands of dollars on a cruise,” Karaburun said.