Rate parity is the practice, often contractual, of keeping the same public price for the same room and conditions across all distribution channels, so no OTA or reseller publicly undercuts the hotel's own website.
OTA contracts historically required parity, though legal treatment varies by country and has evolved. In daily operations, parity matters because guests comparing prices on metasearch punish whichever channel looks more expensive, and that is often the hotel's own site when leaks occur.
Most parity violations are not OTA malice but wholesale rates resold by third parties or the OTA funding its own discount. Hotels typically respond with monitoring tools, tighter wholesale contracts and exclusive direct benefits, such as member rates, that legally sidestep public price comparisons.
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