OTAs are Still Taking More than their Fair Share - Here’s how to Stop It!
As 2025 approaches, boutique and design hotel groups—especially those balancing bustling city center hotels with countryside or beach properties—face a pivotal moment. Are you prioritizing profitability, guest relationships, and autonomy? Or are you still overly reliant on OTAs like Booking.com, whose high costs and unpredictable policies might be eating into your bottom line? It’s time to rethink your approach and chart a smarter path toward sustainable success.
How Cancellations are Killing your Business
Let’s cut the niceties: OTAs are focused on their bottom line, not your brand’s long-term success. And guess what? You’re footing the bill. With sky-high commissions, ridiculous cancellation rates, and zero loyalty from the guests they send your way, OTAs are not helping you grow your brand or business. For boutique and design hotel groups, where creating unique, high-value guest experiences is the cornerstone of your brand, this transactional model is a recipe for mediocrity—not success.
Did you know nearly 40% of OTA bookings get canceled? That’s right—nearly half of what you think you’ve booked disappears before check-in. Why? Because OTAs make it so easy for guests
to click, book, and cancel on a whim. These aren’t real bookings—they’re noise.
Compare this to direct bookings: only 14% cancel. For every 10 bookings, OTAs leave you scrambling with 6 actual arrivals, while direct bookings stick at nearly 9 out of 10. Still think OTAs are helping you? Think again.
You’re Leaving Money on the Table
Direct bookings aren’t just more reliable—they’re also more valuable. On average, they’re worth 13% more than OTA bookings. And during peak seasons, that gap can explode to 60%.
Here’s the cold, hard math:
- For every 10 OTA bookings, 40% vanish, leaving you with 6 arrivals. After commissions, you’re pocketing just €960 on what should have been €2,000.
- For 10 direct bookings, almost 90% materialize, and each booking is worth more. That’s €2,000 in revenue - double what OTAs leave you with.
- Why keep bending over backward for OTAs when direct bookings deliver twice the value?
Why keep bending over backward for OTAs when direct bookings deliver twice the value?
OTAs care more about their Profits than your Success
As a boutique hotel group, you offer something OTAs can’t replicate: a curated experience, unique design, and an emotional connection with your guests. Yet OTAs treat you like just another commodity on their shelves.
Here’s the reality: OTAs need your inventory to survive. Without your exceptional properties, they have nothing interesting to sell. But instead of elevating your brand, they control the narrative, collect massive commissions, and then take the relationship with those guests away from you.
When was the last time a guest who booked through an OTA became a loyal customer? Exactly. They don’t come back. They’re not your guests—they’re Booking.com’s or Expedia’s guests. You’re paying through the nose for exposure, while direct bookings offer something far more valuable: brand representation, stronger loyalty, and better guest relationships.
2025: The Year Boutique Hotels Break Free
If you’re serious about reclaiming control and ditching your OTA addiction, here’s what you need to do:
- Stop Feeding the OTA Beast: Take a chunk of your OTA commission spend—just 10%—and reinvest it into your direct booking strategy. Upgrade your website, optimize your booking engine, use Google Free Booking links and make direct booking the obvious choice for your guests.
- Own Your Marketing: Boutique hotels thrive on storytelling and connections. Use email marketing, social media, and retargeting ads to showcase the unique experiences you offer. Make guests feel like they’re part of something special before they even arrive.
- Lure Guests with Irresistible Perks: Offer exclusive benefits to direct bookers: free upgrades, discounts, or personalized experiences tied to your property’s vibe. Show guests why booking directly is better—because it is.
- Leverage Your Data: Dig into your numbers. Find out how much OTAs are really costing you and compare it to the ROI on direct bookings. You’ll see just how much you’ve been throwing away.
OTAs Won’t Build Your Brand—But You Can
Here’s the uncomfortable truth: if you’re still relying heavily on OTAs in 2025, you’re building their empire, not your own. Commissions will keep rising. Cancellation rates will stay high. And as more inventory floods the market, your hotel’s unique value could get lost in the noise.
This isn’t about visibility—it’s about being a smart business owner. Direct bookings aren’t just a nice to have.
Boutique and design hotels thrive on their individuality, and direct bookings are your lifeline to profitability, stability, and future revenue streams.
So, what are you waiting for? Stop letting OTAs dictate the terms of your success. Take charge. Reclaim your revenue.
Because here’s the bottom line: the more you rely on OTAs, the more you’re building someone else’s empire—not your own. Don’t let them win.
About GuestCentric
GuestCentric is a leading provider of cloud-based digital marketing software and services that help extraordinary hoteliers promote their brand, drive direct bookings and connect with customers on all digital platforms. GuestCentric's all-in-one platform provides hotels with the only unified solution for managing their guests' online journey: award-winning, high impact websites; an integrated, easy-to-use booking engine; social media marketing and publishing tools; a GDS chain code and a channel manager to offer rooms on Amadeus, Booking.com, Expedia, Galileo, Google, Sabre, TripAdvisor and hundreds of other channels. GuestCentric is a proud provider of solutions that maximize direct bookings to hotel groups and independent hotels from collections such as Design Hotels, Great Hotels of the World, Leading Hotels of the World, Relais & Chateaux, Small Luxury Hotels and Small Danish Hotels. GuestCentric is featured on Skift Travel Tech 250, a list of the top 250 travel tech companies shaping the modern-day travel experience.
Melissa Rodrigues
Content Manager
+35 196 157 3854
GuestCentric Systems
