Buying hotels at wholesale rates is how travel agents, OTAs and tour operators protect their margins. Instead of paying the public price and hoping for a small commission, you buy at a discounted net rate and decide your own markup. This guide explains how wholesale hotel pricing works and how to access it.
What are wholesale hotel rates?
A wholesale (or net) hotel rate is the discounted price a hotel or bed bank offers to trade partners who sell on their behalf. It sits below the public 'best available rate' you'd find on a consumer site, leaving room for the agent to add a margin and still quote a competitive price to the traveller.
Where do travel agents get wholesale rates?
Wholesale hotel inventory comes from a few sources, usually aggregated by a B2B platform so you don't have to contract each one yourself:
- Bed banks & wholesalers — aggregators that contract thousands of hotels and resell net rates to the trade.
- Directly contracted hotels — properties that sign agreements with a platform for exclusive net pricing.
- B2B booking platforms — like Tripovo, which combine multiple suppliers into a single account so you search and book everything in one place.
Net rates vs published rates
A published rate is the price the public sees. A net rate is what you pay as a trade partner — the published rate minus the wholesale discount. Your profit is the difference between the net rate you pay and the sell price you set. Because you control the markup, you decide whether to compete on price or protect your margin.
How to grow your margin on hotels
- Compare suppliers — the same hotel can have different net rates across wholesalers; book the best one.
- Use dynamic markup — set higher margins on low-competition dates and trim them when you need to win price-sensitive bookings.
- Avoid hidden fees — per-booking and contract fees quietly erode margin; prefer platforms that are free to join.
- Bundle — pair hotels with flights and transfers to increase the value (and margin) of each booking.
Getting started
You don't need individual hotel contracts or large upfront commitments. With Tripovo you get free access to over a million directly contracted hotels at net rates from a single account — search live availability, set your markup, and book in minutes. You only pay when your client confirms.