For independent hotels, the biggest marketing expense often doesn't appear on the marketing budget at all. It's commission. Online travel agencies typically charge between 15% and 25% of every room booked through their platforms. For a small hotel taking £500,000 a year in room revenue, with half of it via OTAs, that can mean £37,500 to £62,500 leaving the business annually.
Unlike advertising, commission scales with success. The busier the hotel gets, the more it pays. And because commission is deducted at source, it rarely gets the same scrutiny as a supplier invoice or a utility bill.
Why the maths is shifting
Discovery is moving away from OTA search results. Guests increasingly find hotels through Google Maps and AI assistants, which often point to a hotel's own Google Business Profile. That gives independents a cheaper route to the same guest, provided their listing links straight to their own booking engine.
Treat bookings like a portfolio
Smart operators now track cost per booking by channel, just as an investor tracks returns. Direct bookings, email and Google listings usually cost far less than OTA commission. Using the example above, moving just 10% of total room revenue from OTAs to direct would save roughly £7,500 to £12,500 in commission a year, before counting the value of owning the guest relationship.
Where the savings come from
The levers are simple: a Google listing that links to the hotel's own booking engine, a small perk for booking direct, a booking process that works on mobile, and email follow-ups that bring past guests back without a middleman.
The first step is visibility: knowing what each channel really costs. This guide to measuring hotel marketing ROI is a practical starting point.