Online travel agents (OTAs) play an important role in distribution at most hotels, and your situation is probably no exception.
NB: This is an article from Lighthouse
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However, you’ll be all too familiar with the effect their commissions can have on your bottom line: they take a serious bite out of your hotel revenue, and even if you reduce it, you can never eliminate it.
So if you’re looking to increase profitability, boosting direct bookings is clearly one of the most effective steps you can take. But how?
While there are many strategies to make this a reality, the smartest are supported by purpose-built technology.
In this blog, we explore three practical ways to drive more direct bookings designed to help you maximize visibility, optimize pricing and create a frictionless online booking experience.
1. Attract more attention with a smarter distribution strategy
You will likely face the constant challenge of effectively managing your distribution channels to maximize bookings and revenue.
While you might dream of cutting OTA commission fees entirely, the reality is that platforms like Booking.com and Expedia offer enormous reach, surfacing your property in front of travelers you might otherwise never reach.
It’s also crucial to consistently manage your direct booking channels, especially your own website, which often drives your most profitable reservations.
So it’s not about eliminating OTAs; rather than viewing them as a necessary evil, forward-thinking hoteliers treat them as high-visibility marketing channels that complement their direct booking efforts.
Think of your OTA listing as a digital billboard that enhances other strategies, such as email marketing and social media, while simultaneously driving traffic to your own site. Even if a guest ends up booking directly, their first impression often comes from Browse OTA search results, often via search engines or metasearch (like Tripadvisor and Trivago).
This means your listings across all channels, OTAs and your own website alike,must be accurate, compelling, and competitive. If you’re invisible or inconsistent anywhere, you risk losing out altogether.
This is where channel management tools come in.
2. Optimize and automate your hotel’s pricing strategy
A strong direct booking strategy doesn’t just depend on visibility, it depends on offering the right price at the right time.
That’s why a dynamic pricing strategy is so crucial. After all, travellers almost always shop around, compare rates and are highly sensitive to price fluctuations. So if your pricing isn’t competitive or well-timed, you risk losing them to an OTA – or worse, a nearby competitor.
But, effective dynamic pricing is complex.
It requires you to monitor market demand, competitor rates, local events, booking windows, lead times and more, all while reacting quickly enough to stay ahead. If you’re anything like other revenue managers, trying to do this manually is not only time-consuming, it’s virtually impossible at scale.
Enter pricing recommendation software.
