Hotels and places to stay
Every direct booking is commission you don’t pay.
I work with hotels, serviced apartments, B&Bs and holiday lets that want to depend less on the booking sites. Not to leave them: just to stop relying on them alone.
The problem, in money
The booking sites bring you guests who would never have found you on their own, and that is worth what it costs. The problem starts when they become your only channel: you pay commission on every night, your price is set by the comparison on the platform, and the guest stays theirs.
On a typical property the commission runs from 15% to 20% of the stay. Over a full year that is not a line in the accounts: it is somebody’s salary.
The first step is not rebuilding the website. It is knowing what you are actually paying.
Run the numbers on your own propertyIn this section
Two tools, before you ever speak to me.
Tool
OTA commission calculator
What you hand to the booking sites over a year, and what you would keep by moving part of your bookings to direct. The answer appears straight away, without leaving your email address.
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Guide
How to increase direct bookings
The practical steps, in the order to take them: where your bookings come from today, what is blocking the direct channel, and what to change first.
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Properties I work with
Two case studies, told in full.
Hotel Punta Scario
Malfa, Salina — Aeolian Islands
A property whose view sells itself, on an island guests reach from across Europe. Website, campaigns, SEO and an English version, worked on as a single piece.
Residence Celeste
Lake Como
Apartments for long stays in one of Italy’s most international destinations. A site in four languages, campaigns and SEO built around an audience that is not the hotel audience.
Common questions
The questions I get asked most.
- Do I have to leave Booking.com and the other travel sites?
- No, and usually you shouldn’t. Those sites bring you guests who would never have found you on their own. The problem starts when they become your only channel: then you pay commission on every night, and the relationship with the guest belongs to them, not to you. The aim is to have a direct channel that works, so the travel sites become a choice rather than the only road.
- What does a booking from an OTA really cost?
- The commission itself is usually between 15% and 20% of the stay, but the full cost is higher: add to it that your price is set by the comparison on the platform, and that the guest’s email address often isn’t yours. The calculator in this section tells you what it weighs in your own case.
- I already have a website. Does it need rebuilding from scratch?
- Not always. Sometimes the problem is just the booking engine, or the Google listing, or the fact that on a phone the journey breaks halfway through. That is why the starting point is looking at where your bookings come from today: without that number, any change is a gamble.
- What kind of properties do you work with?
- Independent hotels, serviced apartments, B&Bs, guesthouses and holiday lets. Places where you welcome the guest yourself and the difference is made by the service, not by the number of rooms.
- How long before I see results?
- It depends what you change and how close the season is. Work on the site and on the booking flow shows quickly; visibility in search takes months. If your season is short, the order in which you do things matters more than the things themselves.
How many direct bookings do you take today?
Send me the name of your property and where your bookings come from today. I’ll tell you where it makes sense to start.
Let’s talk about your property