Many scams can be present on the internet. Some platforms in the tourism world are even unhealthy for customers. CozyCozy therefore emanates like the 1time platform that empowers its users.
In 2019, the French made 321 million national trips and 53.1 million international trips. A large majority of its travelers use OTAs (Online Travel Agencies) to plan or research their trip, and their choices are influenced by deceptive practices.
For the first time, an accommodation search engine empowers travelers to find the best deal. Designed to help travelers compare, filter and sort offers, the Cozycozy search engine presents its users with all available accommodation solutions in an unbiased and transparent way, so they can search with confidence.
A unique platform that brings together offers from hundreds of specialized sites such as Booking.com, Airbnb, VRBO, Trip, Agoda, Hotels.com, Expedia and many others. Launched in 2019, Cozycozy is present in 39 countries around the world and offers more than 20 million accommodation listings.
How Web Preferences Affect Consumer Decisions
Many factors can influence or even slow down the decision-making process of consumers. These factors can lead a person seeking accommodation to rely more on the OTA or their perception of it, rather than their personal thinking.
Consumer preferences that can influence decision-making are:
- The position of the offer. First on the list and recent additions are deciding factors. Hotels at the top or bottom of the list (recent additions) are more likely to be selected than hotels in the middle.
- A hotel listed as offering a discount. The price difference pushes the consumer to purchase even if it is misleading.
- Signs of rarity. Emphasizing scarcity notes, such as “only one room available,” can increase sales by creating a sense of urgency.
According to Benjamin Edelman’s “Impact of OTA Bias and Consolidation on Consumers” study, funded by the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA) following concerns about OTA practices, hotels can find themselves to pay fees to OTAs of 25% or more.
This study also concludes that these deceptive practices can cause harm:
Consumers are deceived and expect properties featured on OTAs to match their demand and not be prioritized by payment.
Perpetuating biased market norms, because consumers tend to book via OTA despite the existence of cheaper services, i.e. booking directly with hotels, often at a lower price. OTAs penalize hotels that use these methods.
Increase fees for hotels.
Since the publication of the study, many EU countries have legally challenged OTAs’ uncompetitive business practices in 20194. However, despite this, an Expedia study5 revealed that “Travelers are 57% more likely to book travel through an OTA now than before COVID-19.”
How does an unbiased meta-research platform like Cozycozy make a difference?
Travel start-up, Cozycozy, offers a fully independent meta search engine to find the best prices and deals that meet consumers’ needs by also pointing them to the right accommodation without them having to pay extra charge.
Cozycozy offers users a meta-search platform that is fully:
- Transparent. The prices are displayed with all costs included, which avoids unpleasant surprises at the time of booking.
- Independent. The results presented correspond exactly to the search criteria indicated by Internet users. No commercial site is privileged to the detriment of the others.
- Customizable. Consumers can sort results by location, available devices and services, ratings and reviews, and price.
Free. The use of Cozycozy is completely free for Internet users. No fees are applied to reservations made from the site.
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Tourism: a user-centric platform