Online travel agencies (OTAs)  have become a popular marketing go-to for countless hotel businesses in recent years. Smaller hotels find particular appeal in the ability OTAs have to widen their audience base, and offer third-party marketing prowess. 

Unfortunately, as countless hoteliers are realizing, OTA reliance also has its downsides and they often far outweigh the ease that this method can bring. In this article, we’ll consider why heavy OTA reliance could actually weaken your marketing reserves overall, and how you can overcome that pressing risk to ensure that your hotel business thrives regardless.

# 1 – High Costs That Feel Impossible To Quantify

Hoteliers should aim to spend roughly 4-10% of their total revenue on marketing to remain competitive. Unfortunately, this can be a difficult thing to quantify, even when you’re managing marketing in-house. But, if you’re solely reliant on OTAs to get the word out about your brand, then not only will you pay above the odds, but you’ll have no real way of tracking that expense. 

That’s because OTAs don’t operate for free. They work on a commission that increases with additional marketing services, such as branded Google ads. That’s not a problem in itself, but remember that OTAs take their commission before they pay you anything. As a result, that money isn’t included in your expense statements. 

This can leave you feeling like you’ve got a good deal on paper, but it could actually result in paying a significant amount for marketing efforts that you could handle for a lot less yourself. Getting a strong grip on your finances and being sure to incorporate those commissions into your budgeting is essential. If it then turns out that your entire marketing budget is going towards OTAs, then perhaps you should pull back or rethink your strategy.

# 2 – Results You Really Can’t Track

OTAs don’t want you to have power over your own sales because that would undermine their entire business model. Hence, they keep a pretty tight lid on customer metrics like contact information and stay preferences. As a result, you won’t be able to learn the first thing about what your customers want, how they shop, or even where your peak periods lie. And the worst thing is that an OTA won’t just use metrics from your sales to boost your business – they’ll also use them to push your competitors at times. 

In that sense, completely handing over the marketing reins to an OTA is like letting a friendly but competing entity have access to your inner workings – it will always leave you on the back foot. That’s not necessarily to say that you can’t still benefit from OTAs, but it highlights the need to also target consumers directly, so that you can start benefiting from the metrics on offer. 

Metrics are essential, and they are only possible when you start driving traffic directly to your website. With the right hotel booking engine analytics software in place, you’ll then be able to track everything from your top-performing market channels to any website friction and your most successful pages for conversions. These numbers will allow you to fully tailor your marketing drive towards your most lucrative performance areas, which will never be possible when OTAs keep hiding things from you.

# 3 – A Complete Lack of Brand Recognition

For budding hotel businesses, OTAs can feel like a marketing hack that makes it a whole lot easier to build trust. After all, this is a way to get your name seen on some of the most popular travel websites in the world, and it also serves as a reliable recommendation of what you have to offer. But, beware that those brand recognition benefits aren’t all that they seem.

That’s because, realistically, customers buying from OTAs will remember the name of the OTA in question, without really paying all that much attention to your hotel itself. So, while it seems like OTAs are driving business your way, they may be actually damaging your visibility in favor of their own. 

It’s only by breaking out and building an independent online presence that you can ensure you’re actually making a name for yourself with your marketing. Not only will this ensure that OTA consumers can find your website too if they want to know more, but it also means that you’ll build a trusting, relevant audience on your own. 

A quality website is obviously your most valuable tool for this, and some OTAs may even be willing to link to it directly. However, you should also work on your social media profiles and content creation efforts, all of which should link back to clear brand messaging and a memorable logo that ensures you’re fully recognizable as a top contender both across relevant OTAs and off of them. 

# 4 – Reducing Your Marketing Control

Your marketing efforts end up being the face that your hotel presents to the world. This image should be curated to paint you in a positive light, should see you appearing in relevant places, and should always be well within your control. But none of that is true if you hand over too much of your marketing budget to OTAs. 

That’s because OTAs have their own agenda, which sits well outside of elements you can still control, such as your SEO efforts, your website quality, and your social media messaging. On an OTA, your listing placement will depend on everything from the amounts your competitors pay to the agenda of the OTA in question, and more. You probably won’t even have any real say about the messaging an OTA uses or the pictures of your hotel that they chose to display. 

This could see a well-established, reputable brand taking complete control over marketing you in a way that you might not like or appreciate. And there won’t be a thing about it until you take back the reins and start writing your own brand story instead of letting OTAs do that for you!