Tonight’s hotel special price, which is the earliest instant booking in China, is not performing well，But under his influence，Big players are also beginning to consider this market。In my opinion，The biggest problem with instant booking may be that the revenue management level and informatization level of Chinese hotels are not high，And the upstream supply chain is relatively complex，For startups，How to cut in、Which level you get the property from may be a problem。

But the good news is，HotelTonight is doing great，And no domestic giant has a particularly obvious intention to enter this market segment，Startup companies may still have a window period。The hotel we reported before wanted to take this route，But only high-end hotels。I learned from a recent communication with their team，The user stickiness of their products is relatively high，You can also get support from some hotels (especially high-end hotels that are not doing well)。

Until December this year，HotelTonight will be established for five full years。Sceptics think，HotelTonight’s best days are over，Some larger competitors have already caught up。After announcing an $81 million funding round earlier in 2014，Its valuation has reached 3.USD 200 million，HotelTonight is unlikely to keep growing that fast，It is also unlikely to bring sufficient return on investment for investors，Thus allowing them to exit smoothly。

But the data shown by HotelTonight，It seems to be contrary to the views of these doubters。

HotelTonight in 2010 as a mobile-only company、A product that provides same-day instant hotel booking appears (called same-day or last-minute booking in English，hereinafter collectively referred to as instant booking)，At that time, this mobile-only strategy seemed very radical，And when it was launched, HotelTonight only had about 50 hotels in 3 cities in the United States。

HotelTonight now has approximately 200 employees，Provided from North America、36 countries in Latin America and Europe，Hotel bookings in over 1900 cities，The number of partner hotels exceeds 1.5 Wanjia。But now HotelTonight offers more than just instant booking，Also allows users to book hotels a week in advance - so some people think this means HotelTonight cannot survive，The market for instant booking is too small to support a mature company。

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Data provided by HotelTonight co-founder and CEO Sam Shank，The company has built a good brand reputation among some “technology enthusiasts”，And is getting more attention。

He said，HotelTonight’s annual order total has reached hundreds of millions of dollars，And order total、Both room nights and operating income maintained 100% growth in 2014 (the total order amount is the price paid by the guest，Only a small portion of this is HotelTonight’s commission)，And can maintain a similar growth rate in 2015。

Some major OTAs，For example, Priceline and its Booking subsidiary.com，And some smaller competitors，Example Jetsetter，Hipmunk and Hot Hotels in Spain，Soon within a year or two after HotelTonight launches，I just launched my own same-day instant booking product。

These big players may have higher marketing budgets。Based on iSpotTV US data，Priceline within seven weeks of July to August，Spent $8.1 million on 5,700 ads on national television，Just used to display their same-day pre-order products。

Shank does not deny this，Because this kind of competition has already appeared in the early days of HotelTonight。”We understand，We have entered one of the most competitive e-commerce markets，But this business has exploded，And we are doing well。“

Shank said，Some HotelTonight partners 188bet Online Sports Betting and Casino say，Orders they provide，More orders than all other competitors combined。

A hotelier’s perspective

Skift reports，In communication with HotelTonight’s supplier，The main point is that HotelTonight does a great job selling “instant booking” hotel rooms – if they don’t sell these rooms will sit empty。

“If the expectation is that you want to sell all 100 rooms in your hand，This is impossible。” said Kim Nugent, vice president of hotel management company Benchmark Hospitality，“This is what HotelTonight does for us，Some rooms may be sold at the last minute。”

Nugent identifies HotelTonight as an excellent “secondary channel”，Especially for “Growth Markets”，But their company has never used this strategy in hotels targeting the business travel market。“This is a channel that can be exploited，But you must make sure to use it reasonably。” Nugent said。

Adele Guzman is Vice President of Library Hotel Collection，She also thinks that HotelTonight is very effective in increasing the number of orders，Because this company’s website is originally aimed at users who book hotels several months in advance。

Guzman said，They tried Expedia and Booking.com's BookingNow (this is Booking.com’s Instant Booking App) to distribute those vacant rooms，But HotelTonight proved to be the most effective channel。She added，The auction strategy used by HotelTonight is very competitive。

Another hotelier who did not want to be named said，HotelTonight’s prices are not lower than those of its competitors，But the great thing about HotelTonight is that it will buy some rooms in advance during the peak season (just like a private room operator)，Set a slightly higher price to sell，HotelTonight will then share the additional revenue with the hotel。

The method of booking a room in advance is generally not used by OTAs，But Shank admitted it，They will adopt the method of pre-purchasing hotels at some point。

"This illustrates a frustrating thing，That’s why HotelTonight is better at marketing than hotels，Especially during peak season。” says Tom Botts, Hospitality Industry Practitioner，"But，By sharing the extra revenue with the hotel，188bet online sports betting HotelTonight is at least getting some goodwill from the hotel industry。”

Kelly Keegan, Manager at Godfrey Hotel says，She started using HotelTonight a year and a half ago，Then I found success very quickly，Now she puts HotelTonight into distribution channels every day。Similar to other practitioners mentioned above，She also appreciates HotelTonight’s pre-order model。She said，HotelTonight’s user experience is very good，Easy to get started，Every page flows smoothly，Looks beautiful too，Not too much text to disturb users。

Some negative views

However，The hotel industry is so big，Of course not everyone is a supporter of HotelTonight。

Said Manny Chohan, Senior Vice President of Hampshire Hotels & Resorts，The group has used HotelTonight and BookingNow，Discover it’s easier to acquire international travelers with BookingNow，Especially users from China and Brazil。“We have not compared the total order volume from the two products。” Chohan said，Frankly admit that this hotel chain group and Booking.com have cooperated for more than ten years，Have a relatively good relationship。

Another person who wishes to remain anonymous、The hotel practitioner in charge of channels said，HotelTonight is not a distribution channel approved by the group，So if the department uses HotelTonight，Will be warned。“Most companies are not willing to spend a lot of time and effort，To reduce the vacancy rate from 28% to 27%，To manage these channels。” he said。

However，For HotelTonight competitors，HotelTonight is definitely a competitor that needs attention。Conor O’ Connor, CEO of Hot Hotels, speaks frankly，HotelTonight has a good team，It has also received the attention of capital-Hot Hotels has just opened a store in Boston，And looking to expand in the US – he doesn’t think competition is a bad thing，Because this will make more people pay attention to the instant booking market segment。

“Tourism is not a winner-take-all market，Definitely not the instant booking segment either。” O’ Connor said。

Will HotelTonight become a unicorn？

Many people in the industry think that，HotelTonight before closing of financing in 188bet app download 2014，You should find a buyer as soon as possible to sell yourself，Now they may have missed an opportunity to exit。

These doubters admit they don’t know HotelTonight’s actual data，But they think HotelTonight may not be growing fast enough to meet the demands of investors who are typically looking for a double or triple return。They don’t think HotelTonight is a unicorn-level company

These doubters think，When all the major players are offering “Instant Booking”，HotelTonight is a good product though，But there is no essential difference from other products，And HotelTonight switched to a seven-day advance booking product，This shows that the instant booking market is too small。

Someone else questioned，If any other giant considers acquiring HotelTonight，They may not be able to give a price for HotelTonight right now。An observer said，This round of investment from EquityZen in July 2014，No specific amount disclosed，It may mean a "down round" - that is, the valuation after this round of financing is lower than before the financing。

Shank denies this，He said HotelTonight has never experienced a decline in valuation，EquityZen just bought some shares from old shareholders。

A senior investor in the tourism industry said，HotelTonight has the first-mover advantage，And has already built its own brand，Built a certain scale。The investor said，This company is in a rapidly growing market segment，Has a first-class team and brand value。

He said，Although OTA’s instant booking platform has maintained a growth rate of about 30%，But HotelTonight is also growing，“This is a huge, crazy market”。Other observers believe，Doubters shouldn’t pay too much attention to HotelTonight’s valuation，Because these valuations are only seen by onlookers，Especially those potential strategic acquirers。

Shank confesses，The company faces fierce competition，But the company’s operating income and other data have already proved the company’s status。

“This business is not stagnant，No slowdown either。” Shank said，“We maintained the same growth rate as last year，But the base is much larger，This business has never performed better 188bet app on a product innovation level and financial performance level。”

Shank said，The company introduces the business of booking seven days in advance，Not a compromise，But we hope to give consumers more choices。“We realize，Our unique position in the industry，It is an emotional recognition，Also a change in consumer behavior。” Shank didn’t want to speculate on the motives of the doubters，He just said，Those people have not seen the company’s financial statements。

Last，Competitors crushed HotelTonight，Or could we see a company IPO (or be acquired by a strategic acquirer)？HotelTonight will definitely face more pressure，But it’s too early to draw conclusions at this time。

“We want to be a long-term business，We are building the best、Mobile-based travel company，And we’re excited to make it happen。” Shank said。