Skip to content
‹ Back to IndustriesHospitality

Online Rate Parity Is a Problem; Data Is the Solution with Sean Fitzpatrick of OTA Insight

As more North Americans use online travel agencies like Expedia and Booking.com (an estimated 40 percent), hoteliers have to get smart about competing for those travel dollars. That means competing on price as one approach, Sean Fitzpatrick, CEO of OTA Insight, tells us in this episode of the Hospitality Podcast. “The hotel industry is…

This story was produced through MarketScale. See how Hospitality teams put it to work with Executive Thought Leadership.

·
Share
Online Rate Parity Is a Problem; Data Is the Solution with Sean Fitzpatrick of OTA Insight

Free workspace

Turn your Hospitality expertise into content.

Record interviews, organize footage, and write with AI on a free trial of the MarketScale platform for qualifying companies. No demo required, no credit card.

Try it Free

As more North Americans use online travel agencies like Expedia and Booking.com (an estimated 40 percent), hoteliers have to get smart about competing for those travel dollars. That means competing on price as one approach, Sean Fitzpatrick, CEO of OTA Insight, tells us in this episode of the Hospitality Podcast. “The hotel industry is going through a significant period of disruption with the rise of Online Travel Agents,” Fitzpatrick said. “Hotel operators are wrestling with a huge amount of information that has a significant impact on their business.”

It’s a great time to be a hotelier, with the industry seeing a record period of growth. Not only is supply growing, but so are levels of demand and the number of channels to market to. But with a wide range of fluctuating room rates, it’s still difficult to offer guests consistency and value. Enter data. Fitzpatrick discusses how that data is being used to help solve the recurring issue of rate parity across the hotel industry. “OTA pulls all that info, rationalizes it and presents it in a simple way that empowers the hoteliers to make smarter revenue decisions,” Fitzpatrick said.

For the latest news, videos, and podcasts in the Hospitality Industry, be sure to subscribe to our industry publication.

Follow us on social media for the latest updates in B2B!

Twitter – @HospitalityMKSL

Facebook – facebook.com/marketscale

LinkedIn – linkedin.com/company/marketscale

Your experts belong here

Every story in MarketScale Hospitality starts with a company putting its general managers, operations leads, and brand teams on the record. Buyers are already reading this topic. The only question is whose experts they find.

Owners and operators buy from people who understand the property, and your teams prove it in their own words.

Book DemoSee how it works15 minutes, straight to a calendar.
B2B Weekly

The week in Hospitality, and sixteen other industries, every Monday.

Ten stories, one-line takes, five minutes. Free.

Hospitality: are you visible to AI?

Before they reach out, Hospitality buyers ask AI engines which vendors to trust. Explore how your experts, customers, and partners can become useful content for buyers and AI search.

Free Trial

You just read one Hospitality expert. Your company is full of them.

This article was produced through MarketScale. The same platform turns your general managers, operations leads, and brand teams into the articles, video, and social content Hospitality buyers are searching for. Start a free trial and see it with your own people. For qualifying companies, no credit card, no demo required.

NPS +73 · 1,000+ creators · 38+ countries

What your free trial includes

Hands-on access to the MarketScale platform
Media requests to your crowd, remote recording, AI writing tools
No demo required. No credit card.
For qualifying companies. Company confirmation required.

More Hospitality Insights

Accor selects IDeaS Optix as a referenced BI tool for its hotels

Accor selects IDeaS Optix as a referenced BI tool for its hotels

Accor has added IDeaS' Optix business intelligence tool to the referenced reporting options for its hotels. IDeaS is already Accor's revenue management system of record. The open test is whether Accor hotels adopt Optix at anything like the nearly 40% rate IDeaS reports among its independent, small-group and regional chain clients.

  • 01Nearly 40% of IDeaS' independent, small-group and regional-chain clients run Optix. The number to watch is how close Accor hotels get to that share.

Nov 2, 2026

HotelPartner's rebrand bets that hotel profit is won in distribution

HotelPartner's rebrand bets that hotel profit is won in distribution

Swiss firm HotelPartner has added 'profit' to its name and a service level across Europe for consultants and smaller hotel groups. Its bet is that independents protect margin by choosing booking channels as carefully as rates.

  • 01Selling more room nights doesn't guarantee more profit: U.S. economy hotels gained 4.6 occupancy points in the first half of 2026, yet RevPAR fell 2.7% and gross operating profit margin barely moved.
  • 02HotelPartner is positioning the choice of booking channel, direct website versus OTA, as a profit decision for independent hotels, made period by period rather than by default.
  • 03The new service-light tier hands strategy-setting and daily yielding to the customer on HotelPartner's platform, so it fits consultants and small groups that already have someone to do the daily yielding.

Nov 2, 2026

Extended stay is 40% of the U.S. hotel development pipeline

Extended stay is 40% of the U.S. hotel development pipeline

Extended stay made up about 40% of the U.S. hotel pipeline in Q3 2026 at 2,352 projects, or 236,219 rooms, per Hotel Dive. Brand conversions rose 3% year over year to 1,516 projects, while the overall pipeline shrank 4.9%.

  • 01Of the extended-stay projects in the Q3 2026 pipeline, 424 were under construction, 1,006 were scheduled to start construction in the next 12 months and 922 were in the early planning stage.
  • 02Conversions rose 3% year over year to 1,516 projects even as the total pipeline shrank 4.9%, while luxury grew 19% by rooms and 14% by projects year over year.

Nov 1, 2026

Explore More Hospitality Insights

Read more expert perspectives from across Hospitality.

Browse Hospitality Hub

For B2B teams

Your experts could be publishing here

Stories like this one run on content MarketScale captures from real practitioners. See how your team's expertise becomes coverage in Hospitality and beyond.

Book a Demo

Or call us. No forms required. We pick up. 214-945-2512