B.Com really need to reconsider their strange policy of showing same-country availability only
I have taken over a fabulous hotel just inside Austria, yet only 4 Kms from a big Swiss ski resort. In that resort, as an example, there are no rooms available over Xmas/New Year yet there are no doubt still many people wanting to go there, Covid allowing! The nearest place showing as available is 15 kms away, yet my hotel (in a place nobody searches for) has lots of fabulous rooms free and is only 4 kms away - but it doesn't get seen. I am told the reason is because it is just over the border and not in the same country as the location searched for. How ridiculous is that! It really hurts my business, guests wanting to stay in the area are disappointed and B.Com lose out on some good commission, so everyone loses. There is absolutely no advantage in having this policy. Airbnb and Expedia don't do it - they show all the area's available properties - and neither should the leader operate that way.
Another one for the Communities Team to add to the list.
Hello Rafting Alm! Welcome to the Partner Community, and thanks for raising an interesting question. I will share your question with my colleagues.
Thank you Sergei - the solution is actually very simple! On your system, you just make the ski resort of "Samnaun" a Landmark instead of a town in a similar way that has been done for Geneva Airport in Switzerland and the job's done! A search for accommodation at Geneva International Airport shows the availability at not only the Swiss hotels there but also the hotels in the nearby French town of Ferney-Voltaire.
There is a good supporting reason to make the change, as the location of Samnaun at 1840 metres up is quite exceptional. The only main road into the resort is on the Austrian side, by way of which 90% of the visitors travel. Only the last 5 kms are in Switzerland and there at Samnaun-Dorf the road ends.The remaining, more adventurous drivers, meander up on the Swiss side on a narrow road which in places is just single-track tunnel. Samnaun's unusual and difficult to reach location, in almost hidden Swiss territory, is why for centuries the Swiss tax authorities didn't venture there.To this day Samnaun is a tax-free zone.
My proposal would not only be a very welcomed by the accommodation suppliers in Spiss, the closest village to Samnaun and which just happens to be on Austrian territory, but would also be beneficial to Booking.com. I am sure a significant number of clients are lost to Expedia's websites and Airbnb whose systems show the availability of accommodation in all of the surrounding area and not just those built on Swiss soil. I have reluctantly advertised my Landhaus Paradies with them purely because it does not appear on the Booking.com searches for Samnaun accommodation.