Do hotels still need direct bookings?

Welcome to the very first edition of The Hotel Hype. I am so excited that you have decided to join me on this journey right at the start!

I thought we might as well jump straight in with a biggie: Are direct bookings still relevant for hotels in 2024?

Well, there is only one answer… YES!

Direct bookings have many benefits for hoteliers in the short and long term.

To name a few:

• Cheap source of bookings

• You get YOUR customer’s data

• You have more opportunities to upsell your guests

• You have a better chance of turning them into repeat guests

• You aren’t reliant on third parties to fill your hotel

• And much more!

All of these are valid points but I think we need to call one of them out especially.

You need to be as self-sufficient as possible. If you are reliant on OTAs you are stuck with them. They control the terms of that relationship and there is little you can do.

They’ve got you.

If you can deliver 50%+ of your bookings without OTA support, you have much more freedom to pick and choose what you do with them. You won’t need to be giving away cheaper rates and offers at the mercy of the OTAs just to keep the doors open.

Imagine a world where you can’t deliver a strong flow of direct bookings…