Ask the CEO (7) - Ashwin Kamlani, AboutAnywhere.com

Today 'Ask the CEO' features Ashwin Kamlani from AboutAnywhere.com located in Miami, Florida, USA.

1. What problem (s) your company is trying to solve?

AboutAnywhere.com was created to help the hotel industry deal with many of the frustrations that they have experienced while working with OTAs.  We initially set out to deliver comparison shoppers to hotel websites, but there was too much of a disconnect in the booking process, and it was difficult to convert our customers into hotel customers.  So as of September 15th, 2009, AboutAnywhere.com will be an OTA.  By bringing the transaction onto AboutAnywhere.com, we will be able to cater much better to the needs of consumers, and dramatically boost our conversions, while still trying to help the hotel industry change the distribution landscape.  Hotels that want to sign up can visit  our website.  There are no contracts to sign.

2. How did you finance your venture?

We have 2 private investors and are interested in finding a 3rd investor.

3. In a difficult climate of uncertainty, how do you attract talents to join you adventure?

Everyone at AboutAnywhere.com loves that we are trying to do something good for the hotel industry.  It is fun to work here because the hotels recognize that we are fighting on their behalf.  We have actually had hotels call us and offer to recruit the other hotels in their cities or towns because they believe that we can be a strong but more cost effective alternative distribution channel.  More than 16,000 hotels have joined us!  Now that we are interacting directly with the consumer, it is even more entertaining as we think of creative ways to blow away the customer with our outstanding service.

4. Could you explain your revenue model

Distribution channels have always funded themselves and earned their profits by taking a cut of the hotel’s revenue.  Our goal is to change that mentality.  We charge a low booking fee only to cover the cost of operating our customer service and administration which are now necessary that we are managing the transactions, but our revenue model remains unchanged.  Hotels can participate in our auction based, pay per click program in order to control their hotels position in the sort order of each destination.  Hotels can either use a credit card to create a budget for Pay Per Click positioning, or we can automatically take an additional % of each reservation and apply it to the hotel’s Pay Per Click account.

5. Who gives you inspiration when you feel down whilst leading your company?

President Barack Obama.  Whether or not you agree with his policies, it is undeniable that the man has inspired the United States and the rest of the world.  In my opinion he has proven that you can actually be a “nice” guy, and take the high moral ground, and still be a powerful and respected leader.  I am also inspired by stories of triumphant underdog companies like Netflix, whose competitor thought that they were so big and powerful that they couldn’t be touched.

And five trivial questions...

a/ Fave hotel experience

Has to be the time that I won a 5 digit figure playing craps at the Atlantis in Paradise Island, Bahamas.

b/ Mac or PC?

PC

c/ Explorer or Firefox?

Firefox

d/ MP3 or CD?

MP3

e/ Twitter or Facebook?

Facebook for personal use, Twitter for business

Comments

[Costa Rica Hotels]

The nextflix story is amazing indeed, it inspire entrepreneurs to stop having fear and take risks that ultimately will pay off

[Miami Beach Hotels]

Very interesting feature - just surprising that the company did not contact hotels which had signed up to tell them about the change in distribution model (becoming an OTA effective sep 15).

Would be interested to find out more about the change and the impact on us
Thanks

www:MiamiHotelGrandBeach.com

[Guillaume]

You are absolutely right. Will make sure AboutAnywhere gets you an answer. Cheers, Guillaume

[Guillaume]

I need to check this Nextflix company. Never heard of it in the UK.

[Ashwin Kamlani]

All hotels that are currently live on AboutAnywhere.com with links to their own websites will have the option of keeping their link, or upgrading to the new OTA model. A communication will be going out early next week with instructions about how to upgrade. Hotels that want to keep their link will remain unaffected and no further action is needed. Although, based on our analytics, hotels are much better off upgrading since the new streamlined booking process will result in higher conversions.

[Miami Beach Hotels]

Ashwin
Thank you for responding so quickly. I would agree that it would probably make sense for hotels to upgrade. Consumers have been conditioned to book on the OTA sites and they probably got confused by a comparison site.

Look forward to a continuation of a successful partnership
Best regards

http://www.MiamiHotelGrandBeach.com

[www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=684195680]

Hi Ashwin
You mean to say that hotels who don't upgrade will still be considered in the search result but they will have links to their sites. And those who upgrade will have rates and availability in the search results to be able to be booked online. Is that right?
Or hotels not bookable online with AboutAnyWhere.com will be less prioritize in the results?