Hotels love to complain about OTAs.
But here’s what I see… Most of them have done nothing to earn independence. Every week I hear the same things:
– “OTAs take too much commission.”
– “They control our pricing.”
– “They make the rules.”
And yet…
– The website hasn’t been meaningfully improved in years
– The booking journey is confusing or slow
– The Booking engine looks like a spreadsheet
– Thin Content pages (Junior suite 50 words, luxury suite 40 words)
– No real investment in direct channels
– No clear reason for a guest to book direct
So what’s actually happening? You’re complaining about dependence…while reinforcing it every single day.
Let me be clear, OTAs are not the enemy. You absolutely need them. They are powerful demand engines. But here’s the part no one wants to admit. If you don’t build your own direct channel, you will stay married to OTAs forever.
And that’s fine, as long as you stop complaining.
The beauty is that you can have both:
• Strong OTA presence
• Strong direct bookings
But you can’t complain about one while refusing to work on the other.
So here’s my hot take:
If OTAs are 90% of your business and your website is still an afterthought, that’s not an OTA problem. That’s a strategy problem.
Curious to hear this from the hotel side. Where do you disagree?