Were ETSSA Right to Slam Direct Bookings

By this point, the number of studies testifying to the positive impact of direct bookings – and the sometimes harmful influence of OTAs – is approaching too many to count. In case you need a refresher, we’ve included a list of the most pertinent at the bottom of this article. Whether it’s in terms of the revenue share for hotels or the experience of guests, there’s plenty of evidence to suggest that booking directly through a hotel website benefits all parties involved.

Therefore when we saw last week that the European Technology and Travel Services Association (ETTSA) had released a report stating that “the major incentive for hoteliers to push direct sales is to reduce transparency for customers,” we were understandably a little perplexed. Momentarily setting aside statements and evidence to the contrary from Kalibri Labs, the Competition and Markets Authority and the European Commission, the figures quoted in the report just didn’t seem to tally with what we hear from hoteliers or what we know from our own data.

It’s understandable that ETTSA would want to cast doubt on the benefits of booking direct; after all, as an association they represent leading OTAs and global distribution systems (GDSs), who are no doubt less than impressed by the growing awareness among consumers of the advantages of direct bookings. But headline-grabbing claims that direct bookings “are not cheaper for hotels” could do real damage to those hoteliers striving to determine their optimum business mix and maximize revenue for their organization.

The danger of claiming that OTA distribution is “100% risk-free”

“While it is unsurprising that ETTSA are keen to promote the benefits to hoteliers of working with online travel agents, it is a stretch to claim that “shifting consumers from indirect to direct has no measurable impact on costs,”” says James Osmond, Chief Operating Officer at Triptease.

“This latest study is at best selective with its analysis, and risks obscuring the benefit to hotels of encouraging direct bookings amongst their guests.”

While not every direct booking is cheaper for every hotel than a booking that comes via a third-party, it is misleading at best to claim that hotels have nothing to lose financially by relying on third-party distribution – or, in fact, to claim as ETTSA does that “distribution via OTAs is 100% risk-free.”

Hoteliers clearly need to be aware of the full spectrum of costs associated with both direct and OTA bookings, but ETTSA’s report overlooks important characteristics of the online booking landscape in order to promote OTA distribution.

Hoteliers deserve to have the fact separated from the fiction, so we sat down with Triptease’s eagle-eyed data analysis team to examine ETTSA’s claims.

If you just want the headlines:

Read rest of the article at TripTease