Booking engine vs OTA commission: what you really pay.

The short answer

Online travel agencies (OTAs) usually charge a hotel a commission on every booking they bring, commonly somewhere between 15% and 25% of the room revenue depending on the platform, region and programme. A direct booking engine on your own website lets guests book and pay you directly, so you keep that commission on every booking that comes direct.

How to work out what OTAs cost you

Take your rooms, multiply by 365 days and your average occupancy to get room nights sold in a year. Multiply by your average rate to get room revenue. Multiply that by the share of bookings that come through OTAs, then by your average commission. The result is what you pay OTAs each year.

For example, a 15 room resort at 55% occupancy and an average rate of ₹8,000 sells about 3,011 room nights and earns about ₹2.4 crore in room revenue. If 40% of bookings come through OTAs at 18% commission, the resort pays roughly ₹17 lakh a year in commission. Our OTA cost calculator does this sum for your own numbers.

Why direct bookings are within reach

Many guests who book through an OTA have already seen your property on Google Maps, Instagram or a friend's recommendation. They book on the OTA because it is the easiest place to check dates and pay. If your own website lets them do that just as easily, a share of them will book with you instead.

What a good direct booking engine needs

• Live availability and rates for every room type, meal plan and package, on your own domain.
• Online payment and part-payment, so guests can pay a deposit online and the balance at the property.
• Mobile first. Most travel searches start on a phone.
• Guest languages and currencies, such as Hindi and English for domestic guests and euros for European travellers.
• A Google Hotels feed, so your direct price appears next to the OTAs when travellers compare.
• A reason to book direct, such as a better rate, breakfast included, or a free upgrade.

Do you have to leave the OTAs?

No. OTAs are useful for reaching new guests. The goal is to stop paying commission on the guests who already found you. Keep your listings, add a direct booking engine, make the direct option visible everywhere guests meet you, and measure how the share of direct bookings grows.

A simple 30 day plan

1. Add a direct booking engine to your website and test it on a phone.
2. Put a "Book direct" button on your Google Business Profile, Instagram bio and WhatsApp replies.
3. Offer a small, clear benefit for booking direct.
4. Connect the Google Hotels feed so your direct rate appears in Google's hotel results.
5. Track direct bookings every week and compare with the commission you were paying.

Cazzcent builds commission-free direct booking engines for hotels and resorts, refined over 128 releases, with part-payments, Hindi and French, and a Google Hotels feed. See how ARK Lake Resort sells its own rooms in the case study.