Service & Support Fee

How will the Service & Support Fee affect travelers?

Travelers booking lodging through the Ripe platform benefit from:

Traveler support, 7 days a week, from real humans - not chatbots or AI assistants
An alternative to commission-heavy booking sites, ensuring more of their spend stays local rather than being lost to external operators
A 1:1 relationship between travelers and lodging suppliers, simplifying travel and communication
Lower overall fees for short term rentals as compared to major booking platforms. The average AirBnB guest, for example, pays an additional 15% on the nightly rate. Ripe’s Service & Support fee is a fraction of that.

The Service & Support Fee is clearly disclosed at checkout and is charged separately from the room rate and hotel taxes. This Service & Support Fee is clearly disclosed at checkout and is charged separately from the room rate and hotel taxes. The fee will appear on statements as "Ripe* [name of destination booked]."

How will the Service & Support Fee affect lodging suppliers?

This fee will not affect lodging suppliers. Ripe’s model allows properties to retain more revenue, engage directly with guests, and deliver better on-property experiences. We will continue to:

Prioritize direct reservations whenever possible
Collect 0% commission on the majority of DMO websites
When commissions are collected, be among the lowest commissions in the industry

What does this mean for destinations?

Full Removal of Contact Center Fees: We are eliminating contact center costs across the board. Whether your destination has previously paid contact center fees or has elected to not adopt that support, it’s now available to all destinations at no cost. We’re providing your travelers access to live, human support 7 days per week, which is beneficial to both conversion rates and traveler service.
Removal of Value-Add Fulfillment Costs: We are removing the cost to fulfill value-ads for all destinations, helping to drive higher conversion rates for your community.
Shared Success: By moving away from fixed fees, Ripe’s success is now tied directly to Richmond’s success. When your destination thrives, we thrive.
Tourism Enrichment & Innovation: These funds will fuel continued investment in destination-specific tools and local partnerships, strengthening the hub-and-spoke model that keeps tourism value in-market.

The Service & Support Fee helps to support the long-term sustainability of Ripe’s mission to empower destinations to own their visitor economies and keep tourism value in-market

How do cancellations work?

The Service & Support Fee is non-refundable once a reservation is made
The non-refundable nature of the fee is clearly disclosed at checkout
Hotel cancellation policies still apply to the reservation
The fee does not affect reservation terms, pricing, or availability