In travel, the smallest things can still cause the biggest fuss. A late aircraft is annoying. A lost bag is bad form. But a bed bug? That is the sort of unwanted guest no hotelier wants immortalised in a review.
Valpas has now pushed that nightmare from back-of-house anxiety into the booking engine itself, after integrating its bed bug-safe certification with Netstorming. The move makes Valpas certification a searchable and bookable hotel attribute across Netstorming’s ecosystem of up to 1,000 B2B booking platforms, putting the badge in front of tour operators, travel agencies, destination management companies and wholesalers while they sell accommodation.
For agents, the practical value is simple: less squinting through reviews, fewer awkward client questions, and a verified answer at the point of sale. Netstorming’s technology is built around web-based booking engines for travel companies, including tour operators, agencies, and DMCs, making the integration more than just a shiny badge on a brochure. It puts the answer where the booking is actually made.
“Bed bug-free travel is increasingly becoming a part of customers’ decision-making process when booking a trip and tied to their expectations of quality”, explains Martim Gois, CEO and Co-founder of Valpas. “As this category is implemented across OTAs, traditional travel agencies and tour operators, it will help hotels stand out from competitors and, therefore, turn into a commercial advantage.”
That is the commercial sting. Bed bug safety is no longer merely a housekeeping matter; it is becoming a trust signal, a quality marker and, in the hands of an agent who knows how to sell reassurance, a tidy little differentiator.
Nicola Rizzardini, CEO of Netstorming, said: “partnering with Valpas and displaying their certification directly in our search and hotel pages gives our B2B ecosystem something priceless: the confidence that every property they consider has been independently verified for safety. That’s a promise we are proud to stand behind.”
The timing is sharp. Research conducted by Phocuswright and sponsored by Valpas examines how pest safety shapes hotel choice, brand loyalty and willingness to pay across major travel markets. Related Phocuswright material says bed bugs ranked ahead of cleanliness, value and staff friendliness as a booking concern among surveyed travellers. In plainer English: customers are already asking the question. The industry has finally given agents a button to press.
Valpas says its certification is independently verified by Bureau Veritas and recognised by the Global Sustainable Tourism Council and the World Sustainable Hospitality Alliance. It is also visible through AI travel channels, including ChatGPT, and has previously appeared as a bookable attribute on Select Green Hotels.
For hotels, the message is bracing. The old-fashioned promise of clean sheets is still sacred, as it should be. But modern travellers want proof before they hand over the card. In an age when one ugly review can march around the world before breakfast, verified safety is not a frill. It is armour.
And for B2B sellers? It is another reason to choose one property over another. Small bug, big business. Very big.
By: Prae Lee – © 2026.
Read Time: 2 minutes.
Author Bio:
You can tell a great deal about a person by how they meet a Bangkok morning. Prae Lee doesn’t charge into it; she glides, unhurried, as if time itself has agreed to behave. There is a calm assurance about her, the sort earned by knowing both your roots and your destination.
A graduate of Chulalongkorn University, she earned her business degree with quiet pride, then further honed it in Singapore and Australia. Travel didn’t change her. It refined what was already there: curiosity, discipline, grace.
Back in Bangkok, she slipped modern life into the family business, mastering social media with an instinct for listening and selling with Thai gentleness.
Prae never seeks attention, yet everything she touches grows brighter.
Now with Global Travel Media, she writes with authenticity, drawing on culture, travel and a rare, steady confidence.
