Hospitality
Every returning guest who books through an OTA is a tax you chose to pay.
OTAs are a fine way to be found — and an expensive way to be re-booked. Most independent properties pay double-digit commission on guests who already love them.
The symptoms
Three patterns we see weekly.
Loyal guests, OTA prices
Past guests return through the channel they found you on — and the commission repeats with them.
Midweek silence
Off-peak vacancy treated as seasonal fate instead of an unworked list of past guests.
One-stay wonders
Guests leave delighted, join no list, hear nothing — and search from scratch next time.
Where the money goes
The leak, measured.
The fix
What we typically install.
A direct-booking path for people who already know you: a post-stay sequence that earns the email and gives a concrete reason to book direct next time, a book-direct rate or perk that beats the OTA, and off-peak offers sent to segmented past guests instead of broadcast discounts.
A boutique guesthouse ran 70% of bookings through OTAs → past-guest direct path → direct-booking share +22 points in one season.