It’s Not About OTAs. It’s About Who Owns the Guest Relationship.
Hotels blame OTAs.
Commission is the villain. Visibility is the excuse. Distribution is the justification.
But commission isn’t the real threat.
Dependency is.
Numbers
Let’s stop talking emotionally. Let’s talk numbers.
100 rooms. 70% occupancy. €180 ADR.
≈ €4.6M annual room revenue.
If 60% comes via OTAs:
≈ €2.7M controlled by third parties. ≈ €540,000–€675,000 in commission.
Then:
That hurts.
But it’s not the biggest loss.
The biggest loss is this:
You didn’t build a reusable asset.
Revenue without data is temporary
Let’s assume just 20% of those OTA guests return next year.
That’s ≈ €540,000 in repeat revenue.
If you owned the relationship. If you controlled communication. If you could segment and time correctly.
But you don’t.
So you reacquire them.
At full acquisition cost.
Again. And again
This is not a marketing gap
It’s a structural weakness.
Every year without owned guest data means:
- Acquisition costs reset
- Margin shrinks
- Predictability disappears
- Negotiation power weaken
Full occupancy hides the fragility. Data ownership exposes it.
The Divide
Distribution-dependent hotels
Relationship-driven hotels
The first compete on visibility.
The second compete on relevance.
One rents growth. The other compounds it.
The uncomfortable question
How many of your guests can you reach tomorrow — without paying anyone?
If the answer is “not enough,” you don’t have a channel issue. You have an ownership issue.
This Month’s Insight
Commission is a cost. Dependency is a strategy failure.
Strategy failures compoundStay Connected
In the next issue:
High Occupancy. Low Profit. What’s Really Going On?
If this shifts your perspective,
We just one message away..
