Bakpaker.com - Commission Free Bookings

Bakpaker.com is a new marketing concept for businesses in the backpacker industry that provides travel operators with commission free bookings!

A bit of background (or jump below for the good stuff)
The hostelling industry is very fragmented with few chains (HI excluded) having more than a tiny % of the total market and this has resulted in a slow take up of technology for distribution (even today, 1000's of hostels have no live booking capability of their own). Combine this with the customer's desire to compare, shop around and use the internet for instant confirmation (all those clever gen Y'ers:D) and you had an opportunity for shrewd players to take a big slice of the distribution channel (enter WRI et al). The result is over $100M per year going from hostel owner's bottom line to intermediaries (like hostelworld.com whose owners made EUR34M in revenue last year).

Sadly, the nature of the problem means hostels can't solve it on their own (travellers want to shop around and get the most bang for their buck). By cooperating however, they can solve the customers desire to get the best choice for their individual needs and the best possible value.

We have developed a business model and technology that solves both those customer needs while also improving travel operators profits.

What we do (the good stuff)

The idea behind bakpaker.com is simple.

• We aggregate suppliers in the backpacker industry and have them offer some kind of bonus or discount.
• We provide travellers with access to those bonuses & discounts when they book direct with the supplier.
• We don't charge any booking, commission or transaction fees so suppliers make more profit and travellers get maximum value when booking direct.

Why bakpaker.com is great for travellers

• We help travellers save money. We all know backpackers are VERY price sensitive. By giving them bonuses or discounts when booking direct with the travel operator, they can now get maximum value for their travel dollar, krona, tugrik or peso.
• We help travellers find what's right for them by providing a new, more flexible way to compare businesses.
• We help inspire people to travel with free tools like our trip planner.

Why bakpaker.com is great for travel operators

• We help you make money. No commission, booking or transaction fees means more profit.
• We provide a simple, commission free booking engine that you can embed on your own website in minutes.
• We help you improve customer satisfaction. Customers who are better informed when booking are much more likely to be better satisfied and repeat customers.

To help launch the site, We are offering a free 6 month trial to any hostelmanagement.com reader who joins before 31 Jan 09. You will need to offer some kind of bonus/voucher/discount for customers who book direct with you but apart from that, there are not strings attached.

To claim your free trial and get your login & password, simply email your contact details to dave (at) bakpaker.com. Or if you have any questions or queries, please post them here to share with everyone.:)

* Unfortunately this offer doesn't extend to Australian based hostels - sorry fellas.