OTA v/s DIRECT BOOKING


The landscape of the hotel distribution is quite complicated. And in the preceding decade there was a lot of growth on this front. There was a growth and loss in OTA market share among online travel agents (OTAs). And today, many hotels stopped weighing heavily on OTAs and started pushing direct bookings. This ancient struggle between "OTA versus hotel direct booking" has brought lodgers into a predicament. You find it difficult to balance the two.

What is OTA booking?

An OTA (Online Travel Agent) is a marketplace which offers clients many hotels with which to make their reservation. In short, OTAs are the intermediary between travelers and hotels, and in the process they collect a little commission. In recent decades, OTAs have gained huge popularity. Millions of travelers throughout the world plan and stay with them. Moreover, OTAs do not only lead to hotel reservations, but also provide many additional advantages.

  • Give hotels more visibility in the web Providing the appropriate travelers with a full tool, analytics and data.
  • Guest review management and more
What is Direct booking?

This is influenced by several variables. Must have:

  • Seen your publicity
  • Read blogs on your
  • Went to various OTA but chose to reserve your accommodation in person via your website.
Direct reservation provides a number of advantages. Some of them are here:
  • An excellent method to maintain a solid visitor relationship
  • Give your experience the flexibility to personalize
  • Can acquire further information for future marketing activities
  • And of course, commissions can be eliminated
How to balance direct bookings and OTA correctly?

Even if there is an OTA vs direct reservation, if you rethink your distribution strategy, you may still nurture and develop your hotel business. The easiest method to do this is to use rates, special offers, policies, to encourage guests, etc.

Provide loyalty program

In OTAs it is impossible for travelers to access loyalty and rewards programs. And thus hotels may benefit from and obtain direct reservations. In addition, you may even reach the next level by targeting previous visitors with your loyalty program. You know their preferences and conduct and can cure custom bundles on this basis.

Have an efficient policy on cancellation and refund

Another fantastic approach to ensure more and more direct reservations is a flexible and easy cancellation policy. If a reservation on an OTA is cancelled, customers usually wait for a reimbursement. The cancellation and reimbursement process on most OTAs does not attract many.

Why not thus utilize this again to your benefit? Provide a fast refund and flexible cancellation policy for direct reservations.

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