It's a quandary - the OTAs provide us with a plentiful supply of guests, but taking advantage of that supply can be incredibly expensive. On average, OTAs charge between 10 and 25 percent of bookings through their platform, which is as much or even more than some property managers charge owners. Even further, Airbnb recently announced a shift in how they charge guest fees in Greece and Croatia, as well as in Australia and New Zealand beginning on the 1st of November, moving those fees entirely onto the host.
It's understandable that you, as an owner or manager, feel fatigued not only by the fees OTAs charge but also by feeling as though you have no control or influence on OTA behavior.
The way forward is to develop a sound strategy to attract, book, and retain guests to your properties bypassing OTAs. The first step is to ensure you have a non-OTA web presence to send guests to. It all starts with having your own website and booking engine.
By having your own website and direct booking engine, you are able to save anywhere between 10 and 25 percent per booking. This means more revenue to you and more revenue to the owner. Across hundreds of bookings and any number of listings, that is a meaningful amount of money. Even without an advertising budget to drive new guests, you can direct your repeat guests to book through your website, saving your most loyal guests money as well.
While a direct booking strategy may not be new, building a website has historically been cost prohibitive requiring thousands upfront and a fee-meter for any changes you request. That is, until now. With Beyond Pricing's newly launched Signal, we work with you to build a website and booking engine completely suited to your wishes and needs - all with no upfront cost!
If you're ready to start your strategic move away from the OTAs, and their shifts in fees and policies, we are here to help. Create an account below to get started with Beyond Pricing, and learn more about Signal here.
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