Cindy Rizky Savitri, Agus Solikhin, Suparwi Suparwi
This study examined the mechanism, effectiveness, and supporting and inhibiting factors of implementing direct contracts between an urban business hotel and a global wholesaler in reaching international guests, using Wyndham Surabaya City Centre as a case study. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with three key informants in March 2026, supported by continuous non-participant observation from January–March 2026, and analyzed using the interactive model of Miles et al. (2020). In contrast to hotel distribution literature dominated by leisure hotels, this study found that global wholesalers complemented rather than substituted for other distribution channels for urban business hotels outside tourist destinations. They primarily reached international guests booking through travel agents in their home countries. Supporting factors included the wholesaler's global network and Wyndham's brand strength, while inhibiting factors involved ADR trade-offs and international communication constraints. Rate parity violations highlighted the need for stronger downstream control. This study empirically extended hotel distribution theory by affirming wholesalers' strategic role for urban business hotels.