About Demand Plus
What is Demand Plus?
Demand Plus is an add-on feature of the Little Hotelier Booking Engine that helps drive bookings to your property by making it visible on the high-performing travel sites, Google Hotel Ads, Trivago, and TripAdvisor.
What are the benefits of Demand Plus?
Increased visibility: Your property will be listed on top metasearch sites Google Hotel Ads, Trivago, and Tripadvisor
Bookings are made directly on your booking engine, so you keep ownership of all booking information, and can therefore use it for promos and upselling
A simple, risk-free commission structure; only pay for completed stays (excluding applicable taxes and fees), with easy monthly reconciliation for cancellations
Pay a lower commission structure than typical channel rates (20-30%)
Easy sign-up process: simply activate Demand Plus from your booking engine
Watch the video below to learn more.
Which high-performance sites are part of Demand Plus?
Demand Plus currently includes three global metasearch engines:
Google Hotel Ads
Trivago
TripAdvisor
Activation and setup
How do I activate Demand Plus?
Get started and activate Demand Plus:
Go to My Apps > Direct Booking > Setup > Integrations > Demand Plus.
Why is my status ‘Awaiting activation’?
Our support team will activate your account within three business days, changing your status to ‘Active’. After setup has been completed, it may take up to two weeks for your listings to appear on Google Hotel Ads, Tripadvisor and Trivago.
Do I need a Direct Booking subscription to use Demand Plus?
If you’re using Demand Plus without a Direct Booking subscription, you will have access to set up basic booking engine features for Demand Plus, but advanced Direct Booking features like promotion codes, plug-in apps and other booking-engine customisation options are not available.
Pricing and billing
How much does Demand Plus cost?
No setup or monthly fees
Commission on completed stays only (Net amount billing excluding commission, taxes and card surcharges)
Pause or cancel at anytime
The commission rate for Demand Plus varies per region. The commission is calculated based on the net booking amount, excluding credit card fees, taxes, and service charges.
How can I see my commission rate?
To view your Demand Plus commission rate:
Go to My apps > Direct Booking > Setup > Integrations > Demand Plus
For Google Hotel Ads, the rate differs depending on which booking link the guest used:
Featured options: your property appears at the top of the Featured options section when a guest selects Check Availability on your Google listing. Commission varies per region. To view your exact rate, go to My apps > Direct Booking > Setup > Integrations > Demand Plus
All Options: your property appears in Google's All Options section. 3%, regardless of region
Can I register for Automatic payments and direct debit?
Yes, you can register for Automatic payments by clicking the relevant link in your invoice. However, because Demand Plus is billed separately from your other accounts, you will need to register for Automatic payments again for your Demand Plus account. Direct debit is also available to customers in Australia and New Zealand.
When will I receive my Demand Plus commission invoice?
Your Demand Plus invoice, which is separate from your regular subscription invoice, will be issued on the 20th of each month.This commission invoice will cover the previous month's reservations according to check-out dates. For example, if a reservation was made in January and the check-out day was in August, you will be invoiced on 20 September.
If your Demand Plus invoices display an amount of 0, it indicates that no bookings were received through Demand Plus during that period.
You will not receive an invoice for months with no completed Demand Plus reservations.
To access your Demand Plus invoices, navigate to Billing → Invoices in your account and use the filter option to select "Demand Plus" to view relevant invoices.
You can also check commission amounts for Demand Plus bookings by navigating to My apps > Direct Booking > Setup > Integrations > Demand Plus.
Bookings and reconciliation
Why did I get a separate bill for Demand Plus?
As Demand Plus charges no monthly fees, it is billed separately from your product subscriptions.
This separate bill will cover your Demand Plus commission fees and any transactions managed by Little Hotelier.
Making sure you're only charged for completed stays
With Demand Plus, you're only charged commission on completed stays.
Confirm if the booking came through Demand Plus in the confirmation email, your Demand Plus statement (My Apps > Direct Booking > Setup > Integrations > Demand Plus), or the invoice (Billing > Booking fees, filtered by Demand Plus).
To avoid being charged for bookings that didn't result in a stay, reconcile cancelled or no-show reservations by the 7th of each month. Once marked cancelled or no show, a reservation is excluded from commission.
How do I reconcile bookings?
Complete by the 7th of each month:
Navigate to My Apps > Direct Booking
Navigate to Setup > Integrations > Demand Plus and select Review and reconcile Demand Plus reservations.
Choose Cancel reservation or Mark as no show
When are reconciliation reminders sent?
You'll receive two email notifications:
Monthly booking summary
Initial reminder to mark any reservations as cancellations or no shows
Final reminder
Last chance to make changes
Why does a direct booking show a commission fee?
When this happens:
The guest found your property through Demand Plus advertising
They clicked through to your booking engine and completed the reservation
The reservation may appear as a direct booking (BBN-booking reference, source Direct Booking), however the Demand Plus commission applies because the booking originated from Demand Plus - if the booking came from Demand Plus, the Source column will contain Demand Plus: "Direct Booking/property name_Demand Plus"
How can I tell if a reservation is a Demand Plus booking?
To check whether a reservation is a Direct Booking or a Demand Plus booking:
Check your reservation confirmation email: It will identify if it's a Demand Plus booking
Check from the Reservations page: Find the reservation and check the Source column. The Source column will show "Direct Booking/property name_Demand Plus"
Check from your Demand Plus statement: Go to My Apps > Direct Booking > Setup > Integrations > Demand Plus to see all Demand Plus reservations
Check the invoice: Go to Billing > Booking fees and filter by Demand Plus to see commission charges (must be a billing user)
The Source will show Direct Booking even when the reservation came through Demand Plus. If the Source column shows Direct Booking and does not show Demand Plus, the reservation is a Direct Booking and Demand Plus commission will not be charged.
Why does a direct booking show a commission fee?
If you have Demand Plus, direct bookings that came from Demand Plus metasearch advertising (Google Hotel ads) will have the Demand Plus commission apply.
When this happens:
The guest found your property on Google Hotel ads through Demand Plus advertising
They clicked through to your booking engine and completed the reservation
The reservation appears as a direct booking, however the Demand Plus commission applies because the booking originated from Demand Plus
How do I modify a Demand Plus reservation?
To modify a Demand Plus reservation, you need to make changes in Direct Booking, not Front Desk:
Go to My Apps > Direct Booking.
Open the reservation you want to modify.
Update the applicable details and save.
Or, go to My Apps > Direct Booking > Setup > Integrations > Demand Plus and select Review and reconcile Demand Plus reservations.
Metasearch sites
Why isn't my property appearing on metasearch sites with Demand Plus?
First, make sure Demand Plus is active by going to Direct Booking > Setup > Integrations > Demand Plus.
If Demand Plus is not active: Follow the instructions to activate Demand Plus
If Demand Plus is active: Your property’s ad should feature a link to your Booking Engine on Tripadvisor, Trivago, and Google Hotel Ads
Then, make sure you have set up your metasearch profiles — this is required before your property will appear on each metasearch site.
Your property details must match exactly across Little Hotelier and all metasearch profiles (i.e. property name, address, etc.). To update your property details, go to Property settings > Property details.
The correct category must be selected on your metasearch profile:
Google Hotel Ads: Hotel property category
Trivago: Accommodation category
Tripadvisor: Hotels category
If your property details don’t match, you’ll see a notification on your Demand Plus page. Note: It can take up to 7 days for your property to appear after updating your details.
What's the difference between connecting to Tripadvisor directly versus through Demand Plus?
When guests visit your Tripadvisor page, they'll see different booking options:
Through Demand Plus:
Your direct booking option appears as "Official hotel site".
Clicking "View deal" takes guests to your SiteMinder booking engine.
You pay the Demand Plus commission rate for completed stays.
Through a direct connection with Tripadvisor Plus/Instant Booking:
Your booking option shows with a Tripadvisor label.
Clicking "View deal" opens Tripadvisor's checkout window.
You pay Tripadvisor's commission rate.
Will Demand Plus impact the SEO for my property website?
No. Demand Plus listings link to your SiteMinder booking engine, not your website, so your website's SEO won't be affected.
What happens to Demand Plus if I cancel my Booking Engine subscription?
Cancelling your Booking Engine subscription will also end your Demand Plus subscription, and your rates will no longer be listed on Google Hotel Ads, Trivago, and TripAdvisor. If you are using the Channel Manager, however, you can choose to keep your Demand Plus subscription active, provided you contact the Demand Plus Support Team.
When Demand Plus is cancelled, you will receive a final invoice containing any outstanding reservations.