Rocco Forte Hotels has become the first luxury hotel brand to adopt Sion, the commission payment platform that has emerged as the first industry-native challenger to legacy processors like Onyx CenterSource.
Through the partnership, travel advisors and agencies booking Rocco Forte's 15 hotels, resorts, residences, and villas will receive commission payments within 24 to 48 hours of processing — often in as little as two hours, according to the company — compared with traditional systems where payments can take weeks or even months to arrive. Advisors will also benefit from competitive foreign exchange rates and no payment fees across the company's portfolio of properties that includes Brown's Hotel in London, Hotel de Russie in Rome, and The Balmoral in Edinburgh, among others.
"Travel advisors are fundamental to our business and deserve a commission process that reflects the value they bring," Sir Rocco Forte, chairman and founder of Rocco Forte Hotels, said in prepared remarks. "This new venture represents our commitment to making Rocco Forte Hotels one of the easiest and most rewarding luxury hotel brands to work with."
The announcement formalizes a relationship that has been building for some time. Rocco Forte worked closely with Sion during the development of its supplier-facing product, which launched in July 2025 with two dozen hotels, and the group was among the platform's earliest and most vocal supporters.
The timing lands squarely in the middle of an industry reckoning over commission payments. As Luxury Travel Advisor reported in January, frustration over delays, opaque foreign exchange markups, and agency-side fees reached a breaking point in 2025, prompting the American Society of Travel Advisors to launch a Hotel Watch List targeting late-paying suppliers and spurring a wave of new entrants aiming to disrupt a market long dominated by Onyx. Agency records reviewed by LTA showed legacy processing consistently costing agencies 8 percent to 10 percent of their commissions once fees and foreign exchange markups were factored in, with payments in some international cases arriving six months to a year after guest checkout.
"Commission payments remain one of the travel industry's biggest operational frustrations, creating unnecessary administration for both suppliers and advisors," said Irving Betesh, founder and CEO of Sion. "Rocco Forte Hotels immediately understood that this wasn't just a payment issue, it was a relationship issue. Their willingness to help shape the platform and become an early adopter demonstrates real leadership and a genuine commitment to the travel advisor community."
Agencies already receiving Rocco Forte payments through the platform say the difference is tangible.
"From a business perspective, the improved transparency has strengthened our financial oversight," said Silvio Rebmann, CEO and founder of CUBE Travel. "We have a much clearer view of outstanding and incoming revenue, which supports better cash flow management and forecasting. Rocco Forte Hotels' decision to embrace this technology shows they are listening to the needs of the advisor community and investing in practical solutions that make it easier to do business together."
"Receiving Rocco Forte payments through Sion has been a wonderful experience for Brownell," added Rene Alldredge, chief operating officer at Brownell Travel. "Sion provides such accurate and detailed backup for the payments; it makes receiving and reconciling a breeze on our end so we can ultimately get our advisors paid faster!"
Advisors who want to receive Rocco Forte commission payments through Sion can register their agency details via a dedicated onboarding portal. Registration takes only a few minutes, according to the companies.
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