How Hotels Build Loyalty Despite Relying on OTAs
Online travel agencies solve a genuine problem for hotels, reach, discovery, and bookings a smaller or independent property might otherwise struggle to generate on its own. They also introduce the same trade-off any third-party platform does across hospitality: the hotel gains volume, and gives up a meaningful degree of control over the guest relationship in exchange.
For hotels specifically, this trade-off is often more pronounced than in other hospitality categories, since OTAs frequently account for a substantial share of total bookings, and typically provide the hotel with very limited guest data in return.
What Hotels Actually Lose Through OTA Bookings
An OTA booking usually gives the hotel a name and stay dates, sometimes little more. The direct contact information a hotel would need to build a genuine loyalty relationship, an email address the guest has actually consented to be contacted through, a phone number, stated preferences, often isn't shared at all.
This means a guest who's booked the same hotel three times through an OTA may look, from the hotel's own systems, like three entirely separate, anonymous stays. The hotel has the guest's business. It doesn't necessarily have the relationship, and without the relationship, there's no foundation for loyalty to build on at all.
The Commission Cost Compounds the Data Problem
Beyond the data limitation, OTA bookings typically carry a significant commission cost, often considerably higher than the cost of processing a direct booking. This means the hotel is paying more for exactly the bookings where it has the least ability to build a lasting relationship, a genuinely unfavorable combination.
A hotel relying heavily on OTAs for volume, without a deliberate strategy for converting some of that traffic into direct, known relationships, is effectively renting its customer base rather than building one it actually owns.
The Stay Itself Is the Recovery Point
Whatever channel a guest booked through, the actual stay is the hotel's best, and often only, opportunity to establish a direct relationship. Check-in, in-room material, and the post-stay period are all moments where the hotel can invite a guest to join its own loyalty program directly, capturing genuine contact details and consent regardless of how the original booking was made.
Leat's signup forms can be distributed by QR code, at check-in, in-room material, or post-stay email, giving a hotel a practical way to convert OTA-originated guests into a known, directly reachable loyalty relationship during the one part of the journey it fully controls.
Give Guests a Genuine Reason to Book Direct Next Time
The goal isn't necessarily convincing every guest to abandon OTAs for their current booking, it's giving them enough of a reason to book directly next time that the hotel gradually recaptures more of its own repeat business. Loyalty points that only accrue on direct bookings, a modest direct-rate advantage, or simply the ability to see and use accumulated loyalty status only when booking directly can all shift behavior over subsequent stays.
Leat's rules engine can apply different loyalty logic depending on booking channel, letting a hotel reward direct bookings meaningfully more than OTA-originated ones, giving loyal guests an incentive to change their booking habit over time.
Track OTA-Originated Guests Separately
Once a guest has been captured into the hotel's own loyalty program during a stay, it's worth specifically tracking whether their subsequent bookings shift toward direct channels. This is the real measure of whether the loyalty program is doing its job with OTA-originated traffic, not simply whether the guest joined, but whether the relationship then reduces future dependency on the platform that originally brought them in.
Don't Treat Every OTA the Same Way
Different OTAs vary considerably in how much guest data they share, their commission structures, and the type of traveler they tend to bring. A hotel benefits from being deliberate about which platforms it prioritizes, and understanding that some may function more as a genuine acquisition channel worth the cost, while others contribute volume without much long-term relationship value at all.
An Illustrative Hotel OTA Strategy
Imagine an independent hotel generating a significant share of bookings through OTAs, with very little direct guest data as a result. At check-in, front desk staff invite every guest, regardless of booking origin, to join the hotel's loyalty program, explaining that members earn points and unlock benefits specifically on future direct bookings.
A guest who originally booked through an OTA joins during their stay, and their contact details and consent are captured directly by the hotel for the first time. On their next trip, having accumulated points during their previous stay, they book directly instead, both to use their existing points and to earn faster progress toward the next reward. The hotel gradually converts a portion of its OTA traffic into a known, directly reachable guest base, without needing to eliminate OTA bookings from its strategy entirely.
This is an illustrative setup and does not describe the exact configuration or results of a specific Leat customer.
Measure the Shift From OTA to Direct, Not Just Total Bookings
The right measure of success here isn't total booking volume, it's the proportion of a hotel's repeat business that shifts from OTA-originated to direct over time. Track what percentage of OTA-originated guests join the loyalty program during their stay, whether those guests' subsequent bookings move toward direct channels, and the resulting change in commission costs as that shift takes hold.
A hotel that only measures total bookings, without tracking this underlying shift, may never notice how much commission it's still paying on guests it could have converted to direct, loyal relationships instead.
OTAs Bring Volume. Loyalty Is What Builds the Relationship Back
Online travel agencies aren't the enemy of hotel loyalty, they're simply a channel that, left unaddressed, keeps the hotel from ever building a direct relationship with a meaningful share of its own guests. The stay itself remains the hotel's opportunity to fix that, converting an anonymous OTA booking into a known, loyal guest the hotel can reach, recognize, and reward directly going forward.
Frequently Asked Questions
Should hotels stop using OTAs to reduce commission costs?
Not necessarily. OTAs can be a genuine and valuable acquisition channel for reaching new guests. The goal is capturing enough of those guests into a direct loyalty relationship that repeat business gradually shifts away from commission-bearing bookings.
How can hotels get guest data OTAs don't share?
By inviting guests to join the hotel's own loyalty program during check-in or their stay, when direct contact and consent become possible regardless of how the original booking was made.
Should loyalty rewards differ between direct and OTA bookings?
Yes, in many cases. Rewarding direct bookings more generously than OTA-originated ones gives loyal guests a genuine incentive to book directly on future stays, gradually reducing the hotel's dependence on commission-based channels.
