Excerpt from Forbes
Years into an ongoing tug-of-war over direct bookings, it’s fair to say that online travel agencies (OTAs), like Priceline, Expedia and Hotels.com, still stir up a lot of angst within the hotel marketing community. OTAs, after all, charge a substantial commission on each booking - generally in the 20% range - which eats into a hotel’s profit margin.
What often goes unsaid in the debate, however, is that a booking made directly through a hotel’s own website isn’t exactly cost-free either. You’re not paying a commission, per se, but you are paying a cost of sale - that is, the budget you spend on advertising channels or digital marketing acquisition.
Generally speaking, the price of winning a direct booking is considerably less than an OTA, especially when cultivated through earned acquisition channels like SEO, content marketing or email. But in some cases, depending on your market, audience and hotel type, the difference is not quite as black and white.
Here are three cases when biting the OTA bullet might be worth your consideration:
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