Amazon is gearing up to dip its toes into the travel industry, according to an exclusive report from Skift.com's Dennis Schaal.
The electronic commerce company is "poised to launch its own travel service" expected to feature booking options in a variety of major cities, per Schaal.
Amazon Travel will likely begin offering service on Jan. 1, and showcase a select collection of hotels within a few hours range of cities like New York, Los Angeles and Seattle.
According to the hoteliers at the independent properties contacted by Skift, Amazon Travel would provide visibility in exchange for commission, per Schaal:
"Properties would load their room types, availability, pricing information, and photos into an Amazon extranet and would pay a standard 15% commission to Amazon for the prepaid bookings..."
Amazon has apparentely taken TripAdvisor ratings into consideration in its search for potential customers, and plans to only use a handful of properties for each destination.
With many independent and boutique hotels suffering from a lack of exposure, there appears to be a defined consumer base for Amazon Travel.
Although the venture is expected to focus solely on hotel bookings at the start, it's possible Amazon could eventually offer flight bookings and other accommodations.
RockCheetah hotel consultant Robert Cole believes that the potential exists for Amazon Travel to become a force in the online travel industry, pointing out that the "key will be if Amazon can create a great user experience and drive traffic," per Schaal.
"They may be able to lure major hotel brands with lower distribution costs, better payment terms and by exerting margin pressure on OTAs," Cole said. "Travel is a big global market without shipping/logistics costs. Thinking special Amazon Prime deals are a no-brainer when running at scale."
Despite the considerable amount of uncertainty surrounding Amazon Travel and a number of unanswered questions, the United States' largest Internet-based company looks poised to continue growing.
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