consumers today have a transparent way of comparing ratespricing in real time and a lot of purchasing decisions are made based on rates rather than the strength of the channel said dilip puri md india for starwood hotels resorts we have empowering toolsand dynamic pricing which allows us to offer best rate guarantee and offer other innovative offers on our direct channels accorhotels which opened its booking website to independent hoteliers is expected to launch the service in india soon said jeanmichel casse senior vice presidentoperations india for this to work in india we need to have massive number of hotels and we have already identified lot of potential partners hilton worldwide recently launched a global campaign offering members exclusive discounts for making direct bookings through its website including for properties in india there is a huge misconception that third parties always offer lower prices for our hotel rooms which is simply not true said mark weinstein global head of customer engagement loyalty and partnerships at hilton worldwide for the customer there are benefits to gain from booking directly with hotels including free upgrades valueadded packages and loyalty points while a larger share of direct bookings is good for the bottom line of hotels aggregators will continue to play an important role by giving them wider visibility and filling up unsold inventory at the last minute