A guest who books direct returns at 5.1%, while a guest who books through an OTA returns at just 1.3%, and that gap holds across the same hotels, the same rooms, and the same front desk teams. That is close to four times the return rate, and it is set before the guest ever checks in. The figure comes from
TikTok GO is TikTok's in-app booking feature that lets users discover and book hotels, attractions, and tours without leaving the platform. For hotels, it is a new discovery surface, not a new distribution channel. Every reservation still routes through a partner OTA. That distinction should shape exactly how much you invest in it, and where. Key Takeaways: TikTok GO turns
Maximizing demand for rooms is a vital component of revenue management and long-term business success for hotels, and online travel agents, or OTAs, can be ideal for achieving this. However, hotel owners, marketers, and revenue managers must work to get the most from them. In this article, you will find out more about what an OTA can do for you
Hotels build a corporate sales strategy by identifying companies with recurring room night demand, negotiating rates that maintain both volume and yield, and managing those accounts as a portfolio rather than a stack of one-off RFP responses. A hotel corporate sales strategy is the organized plan a property uses to win, price, and grow bookings from corporate travel programs.
Hotels drive more bookings from local partnerships by turning nearby businesses, employers, venues, and attractions into formal referral and distribution channels. A hotel local partnership is a commercial arrangement in which a local organization sends guests to your property in exchange for reciprocal value. Managed as a real channel, it produces direct demand no OTA can tax. Key Takeaways: Local
Choosing the right channel manager is one of the more important technology decisions a growing vacation rental business will make. As soon as a property is listed on more than one booking platform, keeping calendars, rates, and availability aligned becomes a daily task, and the tool you rely on to do that has a direct effect on how smoothly your
Hotel marketing budgets are under pressure from every direction. Google Ads cost more every quarter, OTA commissions keep climbing, and social media demands constant spend just to stay visible. So when budgets are tight, you'd expect hotel groups to double down on their cheapest, highest-performing channel: talking to guests who've already stayed. But most don't. Most pour 80% of their
Hotel profit margin calculations are of immense importance within the hospitality industry. Your profit margin is generally defined as the percentage of revenue left after operating expenses have been subtracted. However, you can also adapt the concept to account for individual factors. Understanding your profit margin allows for better resource allocation and growth as you're able to better plan for
Sites like Airbnb represent an important expansion in peer-to-peer rental options. Airbnb sparked huge changes in the hospitality sector by first introducing the model. However, websites like Airbnb are becoming more common and offer innovative and unique opportunities for owners and travelers alike. Likewise, as a hotel owner, they're both a source of inspiration and your competition. In this article,
AI-driven discovery is changing how travelers find hotels, compare options, and decide where to book. Instead of browsing pages of search results, guests increasingly ask AI tools for specific recommendations based on budget, location, amenities, and preferences. This shift has major implications for hotel revenue, channel mix, OTA dependency, and direct demand capture. For revenue managers, visibility in AI-generated answers
AI search is quickly changing how travelers discover, compare, and choose hotels. As ChatGPT moves away from completing transactions inside the platform, hotels have a stronger opportunity to turn AI-driven discovery into direct website traffic. This shift makes Generative Engine Optimization more important than ever. Hotel websites need clear answers, structured content, schema markup, and trusted authority signals to appear
Every night, guests check into your hotels. They share their names, email addresses, preferences, and payment details. They order room service, book spa treatments, connect to Wi-Fi, and leave reviews. Then they check out, and most of that data either disappears into a disconnected system or sits untouched in a spreadsheet no one opens again. For independent hotel groups across
Question for Our Hotel Marketing Expert Panel Independent hotels face strong competition for direct bookings in an OTA-dominated market. What strategies can they use to convert guests through their own channel? (Question proposed by Max Starkov) Our Marketing Expert Panel Max Starkov - Adjunct Professor Hospitality Technology, New York University Moriya Rockman
Today, marketing is no longer an optional extra for any business, and the hospitality industry is no exception. While some might view marketing as simply crafting social media posts and eye-catching visuals, the truth is that there are many other aspects to marketing, and all of them are crucial for your brand to succeed. Unlocking Revenue Growth Through Smart Marketing
The future of hotel competitiveness is being redefined by connectivity. No longer just background infrastructure, seamless integrations are now a critical driver of growth and profitability. Hotels that embrace connectivity gain visibility, control, and efficiency. Those who ignore it risk falling behind with costly errors and missed opportunities. In this article, you’ll learn how internal and external connectivity increase visibility,
The role of an online travel agency, or OTA for short, has become increasingly important within the hotel industry, because they provide a convenient way for customers to compare hotels and book them over the internet, from the comfort of their home or on the go. In this article, you will learn more about online travel agents and the best
Airbnb listing options are one of the most significant drivers of the travel industry. The average traveler has become agnostic to the particulars of a platform. When people travel, they want options ranging from boutiques to hotels, home rentals, or even serviced apartments. Airbnb is part of what makes that possible, and hoteliers leveraging those options are gaining a significant
What did you think when ChatGPT first came out? Maybe you were in the “nice, but useless gadget” camp. Or did you immediately see it as a powerful tool that will shake up our industry? The latter has proven true. Artificial intelligence (AI) tools have only been available for a short time. But you can already see an impact in