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How to Increase Direct Bookings at Your Hotel

OTA commissions eat into your margins on every booking. Here's how independent hotels can shift more reservations to direct channels.

Every booking that comes through an OTA costs you 15–25% of the room rate in commission. On a £150 room, that’s up to £37.50 gone before you’ve paid a single member of staff. Shifting even a portion of those bookings to direct has a material impact on profitability — without raising a single rate.

Why Guests Book Through OTAs

Understanding why guests default to OTAs is the first step to redirecting them.

Discoverability. OTAs have massive search engine presence. Many guests don’t know your property exists until they find it on Booking.com or Expedia.

Comparison. OTAs let guests compare options in one place. Your property competes directly with others at that moment.

Habit. Guests who’ve had good experiences booking through an OTA will default to it next time.

Guests who already know and like your property don’t need OTAs. Your direct booking strategy is aimed at exactly those people.

Make Your Direct Booking Experience Match the OTAs

If your website’s booking process is clunky — slow, unclear, or requiring more steps than an OTA checkout — guests will take the easier path. Your direct booking flow should be:

  • Fast to complete (under three minutes from start to confirmation)
  • Clearly priced with no surprises
  • Accessible on mobile
  • Confirmed immediately by email

If your current booking engine falls short on any of these, fix it before investing in anything else.

Offer Something the OTAs Can’t

OTAs compete on price. You can compete on experience. A benefit exclusive to direct bookers — early check-in, late checkout, a welcome drink, a room upgrade on availability — gives guests a concrete reason to book with you directly without requiring you to undercut your own rates.

Over time, guests learn that booking directly gets them a better deal. That’s a habit worth building.

Email Your Previous Guests

Your previous guests are your best source of direct bookings. Guests who have stayed before already know your property and trust you. A well-timed email before a peak period — offering to book directly and mentioning an exclusive benefit — consistently generates reservations.

The message doesn’t need to be elaborate. “We’d love to welcome you back — book directly before [date] and we’ll include [benefit]” is enough.

Your property management system should make it straightforward to identify guests who haven’t returned in 6–12 months so you can target re-engagement.

Respond Quickly to Enquiries

Many independent hotels lose direct bookings not because the guest chose an OTA, but because the guest sent an email enquiry and didn’t hear back in time. They booked elsewhere.

Aim to respond to every direct enquiry within two hours during business hours. A fast, professional response converts far more enquiries than an elaborate marketing campaign.

Build Loyalty Through the Stay and After

The easiest direct booking to win is the one from a guest currently staying with you. A brief conversation at checkout — “We’d love to have you back, book directly next time and we’ll take care of you” — plants a seed that costs nothing.

Follow up with a short post-stay email the next day. Thank them for their visit, invite feedback, and include a direct booking link. Most hotels don’t do this. The ones that do generate measurably more repeat business.

Sticky Guest gives you the guest history and tools to run a direct booking strategy effectively. Start your free trial — no credit card required.

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