What are Bed Banks?
Bed banks have been active players in hotel distribution for over 20 years now. They are not a new business model, but a simple online technology version of the traditional wholesalers of hotel accommodations that have existed for decades before that. Bed banks are specialized B2B platforms that contract supply from hotels and accommodations providers (typically in long-haul international vacation destinations) and make it available to travel sellers that aggregate travel demand from a variety of sources (traditional travel agents, small and midsize tour operators, some low cost airlines.) Example will be a beach resort in Thailand being offered by a bed bank to retail travel agencies in London.
By Max Starkov, Hospitality & travel technologist and digital strategist, Hospitality Net