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Advertising for hotels
Every booking through a portal costs 15 to 25 per cent. The entire marketing question is how many of those bookings you can move to your own site.
Key points
- Portals supply visibility; your job is converting that visibility into direct bookings later.
- Rate parity clauses limit price competition, so compete on inclusions instead.
- Guests who booked direct return direct; guests who booked through a portal return through the portal.
An independent hotel typically pays 15 to 25 per cent commission on portal bookings. On a £140 room that is £21 to £35 per night, which for most hotels exceeds the profit.
The billboard effect is real, and cuts both ways
Portals genuinely generate awareness. A meaningful share of guests find a hotel on a portal and then book directly, if the hotel makes that possible and worthwhile.
The corollary: a hotel that leaves the portals entirely loses the discovery. The realistic aim is not zero commission but a higher direct share.
A guest who books directly once will usually book directly again. A guest who books through a portal will book through the portal for the next ten years. The first booking decides a decade.
What moves bookings direct
| Measure | Effect |
|---|---|
| Own booking engine that works on a phone | prerequisite |
| Something included when booking direct | high |
| Best-rate assurance stated clearly | high |
| Direct booking prompt in the confirmation email | medium |
| A card in the room at check-out | high, underused |
| Newsletter to past guests before their usual season | very high |
Because rate parity clauses often forbid a lower public price, compete on inclusions instead: breakfast, late checkout, parking, a drink, room upgrade subject to availability. All cost less than the commission.
Photographs are the product
Guests buy a picture. Hotel photography that is five years old, taken in poor light or missing the actual rooms costs bookings continuously.
The minimum set: every room category, the bathroom in each, breakfast, the exterior, the lobby, the view, and the surroundings. Twenty to forty images, replaced every three years.
Reviews drive both visibility and price
Rating affects portal ranking, direct conversion and achievable rate. A hotel moving from 8.1 to 8.7 sees the effect in all three.
The mechanics: ask at check-out, respond to every review within a week, and act on the recurring complaint. Three quarters of persistent negative reviews name the same small number of issues.
The seasonal newsletter
Past guests are the cheapest bookings available. A list of everyone who has stayed, with consent, contacted before the season they usually book, produces direct bookings at effectively no cost.
Most independent hotels have this data and never use it.
The local market
Business travel, family visits and event stays are booked by people in the region searching for a hotel near a specific place. That traffic is winnable through search and map presence, and it does not go through the portals at all.
Frequently asked questions
Can you undercut the portals on your own site?
Contractual parity clauses often prevent showing a lower rate publicly, though their enforceability varies. Adding value is the safer route.
What is a realistic direct share?
25 to 45 per cent for independent hotels with active effort; under 15 without it.
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