icons on mobile phone including well known otas

I think we all know that OTAs and hotels think differently. 
But how, exactly? As an OTA builder, I’d like to bridge the gap by offering true, raw insight into understanding how OTAs think and why my hotel partners always feel a step behind and used by the OTAs. If you’ve felt this way, you’re certainly not alone.

NB: This is an article from Directful

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Because here’s the truth I share with hoteliers: OTAs aren’t just booking engines. They’re behavioral machines. They don’t optimize for heads in beds. They optimize for data, loyalty, margin, and control – all of which, as you know, directly impact what hotels experience downstream.

I’m frequently chatting with hoteliers about these struggles and want to pull back the curtain for you. Let’s uncover the secret of how OTAs think, explored and translated through the daily lens of the hotelier.

Own the First Click

OTAs live and die by visibility. Their whole approach is about capturing that very first guest interaction – whether through paid search, metasearch, SEO, or apps.

If you search “hotels in Dallas,” an OTA shows up first. That’s not an accident. That’s a playbook.

And the OTA playbook says: Own the guest before the hotel can.

Hotels, by contrast, are built for fulfillment. Staff, service, operations – everything starts after the booking is made. The OTA acts before. That’s the gap.

Remarketing strategies can be diversified to cater to different segments of your audience and utilize various digital touchpoints. Understanding these types can help hotels tailor their approach for maximum impact:

Friction Kills Direct Conversion

One thing OTAs do really well is remove friction. They’re always looking for ways to make booking easy – streamlining every page, every click, every second. Any speed bumps that slow guests down are optimized away. Booking paths include only the essentials. For guests, this ease of use is big.

Compare that to a brand.com or hotel booking engine – often controlled upstream, with less flexibility, little ability for optimization, and less convenience.

OTAs don’t just think like platforms – they think like retailers – always considering how to make the process smoother.

Repeat Guests Are a Bonus – Not a Requirement

OTAs don’t rely on repeat business per property. Their main focus is the traveler – not the hotel. Their loyalty programs (Genius, One Key, etc.) are designed to keep guests coming back to the OTA, not the property.

You might notice that even after a wonderful stay, 
guests who booked through an OTA don’t directly 
return. It’s not a reflection on a hotel’s service, it’s 
just the way the system was set up: The OTA 
captured the loyalty upstream.

Though guests are not loyal to the OTAs, OTAs have ways of keeping guests engaged, often through incentives. From the OTA perspective, the hotel is the product. Not the brand. Not the guest relationship.

Read the full article at Directful