Day 4

Where your bookings come from and what they cost you

Module: module-01

The Big Problem

The typical independent hotel receives 60-80% of bookings from OTAs and pays 15-25% commission on each. That means $0.60-$0.80 of every room dollar goes to someone else before you pay staff, utilities, or debt service. Direct bookings cost 3-8%. The math is not complicated, but most operators never do it.

Today's Objective

Calculate your true net revenue by channel and build a plan to shift mix toward direct bookings.

Channel Cost Comparison

For a $200 room night:

• Booking.com at 18% commission = $36 cost, $164 net
• Expedia at 20% commission = $40 cost, $160 net
• Direct via website (3% payment processing) = $6 cost, $194 net
• Phone/walk-in (1% processing) = $2 cost, $198 net

The difference between an OTA booking and a direct booking is $30-$38 per night on a $200 room. For a 40-room hotel, shifting 10 bookings per week from OTA to direct = $15,600-$19,760 additional annual profit.

The Channel Mix Audit

Pull 90 days of booking data and categorize:

1. What percentage of room nights come from each channel?
2. What is the net revenue per booking by channel?
3. What is the total commission cost per channel?
4. Which channel produces the highest-value guest (longer stay, more ancillary spend)?
5. Which channel produces the most complaints or cancellations?

Today's Action Items

1. Complete the channel mix audit with 90 days of data
2. Calculate your blended commission rate (total commissions / total room revenue)
3. Set a direct booking percentage target for Day 90
4. Identify the one OTA channel you are most dependent on and why

Revenue Insight

Every 10 percentage points of direct booking share you gain (e.g., from 20% to 30%) adds $25,000-$75,000 in annual net profit for a typical 40-60 room independent hotel, depending on ADR.

Clozo Academy Proprietary Curriculum — The Hotel Growth System