Is it impossible for hotel direct bookings to overthrow the reign of OTAs?.

Can independent hotels challenge the supremacy of the two major channels in the world, Booking and Expedia? Has the pandemic changed the channel mix for hotels? Most importantly, will this be a permanent change?

Similar questions have been asked frequently across the hotel industry and likely crossed your mind too. Keep reading to find the answer.

So, What has been happening in the World of Hotel Bookings?

Up until 2020, Booking.com had been experiencing phenomenal growth and kicking butt for years, as was the case with Expedia. However, the world took a big turn with the Covid-19 crisis and all channels lost an incredible amount of revenue as a result.

According to Phocuswire, global hotel gross bookings amounted to $523.7 billion in 2019. Online sales represented 42% of the total revenue, and the OTAs captured two-thirds of this.

But this all changed in 2020.

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Guestcentric is a leading provider of Hotel E-Commerce solutions to help extraordinary hoteliers promote their brand, connect with guests, and drive direct bookings.

GuestCentric’s Next Generation Hotel CRS, which includes conversion-driven booking engines, award-winning websites, GDS Chain Code, Channel Management, and a host of integrations with leading PMS and RMS solutions, provides hotels with the only unified solution to optimise the guests' online journey and convert visitors into direct bookings.

GuestCentric is a proud provider and partner to hotel groups and independent hotels in over 50 countries worldwide. From collections such as Design Hotels, Great Hotels of the World, Leading Hotels of the World, Relais & Chateaux, Small Luxury Hotels and Small Danish Hotels.