TL;DR: To increase direct bookings for a small hotel, do not try to move every guest off the OTAs. Move the bookings that are already yours: returning guests, people who search your name, phone and email enquiries. Show your own rate on Google through free booking links, give a reason to book direct that is not only price, and measure your direct share every month.
A pension with fourteen rooms looks at last year's bookings and sees that most came through one OTA. The owner's first idea is a discount code on the website. The second is Google Ads. Neither touches the guest who searched for the pension by name, found the OTA listing above the website, and booked there out of habit.
How to increase direct bookings for a small hotel starts with a less exciting question: which of your OTA bookings could have come direct with no extra marketing at all? This article gives the steps for a property where the OTAs bring most of the business. It is part of our boutique hotel marketing strategy guide.
Why is it hard for a small hotel to win direct bookings?
Because small properties depend on OTAs more than large ones, and the platforms are where guests start their search. A hotel with a sales team, group business and a loyalty programme has several direct routes. A guesthouse often has one: its website, which a guest finds only after they have already seen the OTA listing.
The dependence is documented. HOTREC (via press) found in its 2024 study that, among hotels with fewer than 20 rooms, 27% had an OTA share of 30–49% and another 27% above 50%, on 2023 data (Travel Tomorrow, 2024). Cloudbeds, a hotel-software vendor, reports from its own booking data that OTAs accounted for 63.4% of independent-hotel bookings in 2025 (Cloudbeds).
The trend has gone the platforms' way for a decade. HOTREC (via press) reports that the OTA share among European hotels rose from 19.7% in 2013 to 29.9%, while direct channels, at 51.3% of bookings, lost about 6 percentage points over the same period (Travel Tomorrow, reporting HOTREC). A small property is swimming against that current, which is why the plan below targets the easiest bookings first.
Which bookings can realistically move to direct?
The ones where the guest already knows you. Returning guests, people who search your property by name, guests who phone or email first, and regular business or local guests can all book direct if the route is easy. First-time guests from far away who are browsing a region are the OTA's real contribution; keep paying for those.
| Booking type | Usually comes through | Can it move to direct? | What it takes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Returning guest | OTA app, out of habit | Yes, most easily | An invitation during and after the stay |
| Searches your name | OTA listing above your site | Often | Google listing with your own rate, a short booking path |
| Phone or email enquiry | You, then "please book on Booking" | Yes | Take the booking yourself, send your own link |
| Business or event guest | Mixed | Often | A simple direct rate for repeat visitors |
| First-time, browsing the region | OTA | Rarely | Keep the OTA; win the second stay |
The phone and email line is worth checking first. Booking.com's own reading of the HOTREC 2026 study, which is the platform's claim, puts direct offline bookings, phone and walk-in, at 20% and direct online at 36.4% (Hospitality Net, P. Lochbihler). If your team answers an email enquiry by sending the OTA link because it is easier, that habit is the first one to change.
How do you show your own rate on Google?
Ask your booking engine or reservation-system provider to switch on Google's free booking links. Then your own rate can appear in Google's hotel results next to the OTAs' rates, at no fee. Make sure the Google profile is verified and the hotel details are complete, so that the listing a guest finds by name shows your site as an option.
Google states that "Hotel partners pay no fee for free booking links" and that no one can pay for a higher ranking in them; the ranking signals include consumer preference, landing page experience and historical price accuracy (Google Hotel Center Help). The same page notes that a hotel owner using a reservation system may already be connected to Google through that provider, who can set up the links.
Example (illustrative, not a real case): the owner of an apartment house with eight units wants to appear with a price in Google's hotel search. She does not build anything. She writes to her booking engine provider and asks two questions: is the property connected to Google, and can free booking links be switched on? The provider confirms the connection and enables the links within its own settings. She then opens the verified Google profile, goes to "Hotel details" and fills in the amenities: parking, kitchen, air conditioning, pets. She does not try to set the star rating, because Google sets the hotel class itself. Two weeks later, searching the property's name shows her own rate alongside two OTAs.
Price accuracy is the part owners underestimate. If the rate on Google differs from the rate on your booking page, the accuracy signal suffers. Keep rates in one place, usually the channel manager or PMS, and let it feed everything.
What gives a guest a reason to book direct?
A benefit they can see before they book, stated in one line on your booking page and your Google-linked page. It need not be a lower price. Room choice, breakfast, a late checkout, a flexible cancellation policy or a direct reply from the owner are all things the OTA listing cannot offer in the same way.
Price differences are a contract question. Whether you may offer a lower rate on your own site than on an OTA depends on your current contract and your country; the pillar guide summarises the 2024 changes in the EU and Hungary. Many small properties avoid the question by keeping the price equal and adding something to the direct booking instead.
The benefit also has to be visible where the decision happens. Put it on the room card, next to the total price, and in the confirmation email so the guest remembers it next time. The booking path itself, and how many taps it takes, is covered in boutique hotel website design that gets direct bookings.
How do you know if direct bookings are increasing?
Measure your direct share every month, in room-nights, from your property management system. Count direct bookings and OTA bookings for the same arrival month, and compare with the same month last year. Seasons swing too much for month-to-month comparisons to mean anything. A small, steady rise in the shoulder months is a good result.
The formula: direct share = direct room-nights ÷ all room-nights for the arrival month. Track three more lines next to it: the number of returning guests who booked direct, the number of email or phone enquiries you converted yourself, and the bookings that came through Google's free booking links, if your booking engine reports the source.
Step plan
The steps are in the order of effort: the first ones cost nothing but a decision, the later ones take a few hours each. Do them over a season, not in a week, and measure the direct share after each shoulder period so you know which change made the difference for your property.
- Write down your direct share for each month of last year.
- Agree with the team: every phone and email enquiry gets your own booking link, never the OTA's.
- Ask your provider about free booking links and switch them on.
- Verify your Google profile and complete the hotel details.
- Choose one direct-booking benefit and put it on the room card and the confirmation email.
- Shorten the booking path; count the taps before and after.
- Start inviting OTA guests to book direct next time, during and after the stay: see getting the second stay direct.
- Compare the direct share after the next shoulder season.
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FAQ
What is a good direct booking share for a small hotel?
There is no reliable benchmark for small properties, and survey figures vary widely by sample. Compare yourself with your own last year, month by month, in room-nights. A steady rise in the share of direct bookings in the shoulder months, and more returning guests booking direct, are better signs than any single target number.
Do discount codes increase direct bookings?
Sometimes, but they are a blunt tool and may conflict with your OTA contract. A benefit such as room choice, breakfast or a flexible cancellation policy often does the same job without lowering the rate. If you use a code, give it to past guests only, and check what your current OTA contract says about rates elsewhere.
How do I get my hotel's own price on Google?
Ask your booking engine or reservation-system provider whether your property is connected to Google and whether free booking links can be switched on. Google charges no fee for these links. Then verify your Google profile and fill in the hotel details, and keep the rate on Google the same as on your booking page.
Should we stop answering enquiries with the OTA link?
Yes. A guest who phones or emails you has already chosen your property, so sending them to the OTA pays commission on a booking you had already won. Reply with your own booking link, the direct benefit and the cancellation policy, or take the booking yourself by phone and send a confirmation.
Sources
- Dependency on booking platforms remains too high, European hotel industry says — Travel Tomorrow, reporting HOTREC, 2024.
- Booking and Expedia account for 85% of Europe's OTA market, HOTREC study finds — Travel Tomorrow, reporting HOTREC, 2026.
- 2026 State of Independent Hotels Report — Cloudbeds (vendor booking data), 2026.
- Hotel Distribution Is Not a Zero-Sum Game — Hospitality Net, P. Lochbihler (Booking.com), 2026.
- About hotel free booking links — Google Hotel Center Help, accessed 2026.