Direct bookings are the most profitable route to growth for hotel chains: every reservation captured through your website or sales team avoids intermediary commissions and gives you full control over the guest. To achieve this, you need to centralise operations, automate processes and deliver a seamless booking experience. Here's how to do it step by step.
Why direct bookings should be a hotel chain's top priority
OTAs bring visibility and volume, but they charge commissions that erode your margin. In a chain with multiple properties, that dependency multiplies: every percentage point of commission translates into thousands of euros a year. Reducing that dependency doesn't mean eliminating OTAs, but rather redressing the balance. Direct bookings let you build guest loyalty, understand preferences and, above all, keep the margin that currently goes to intermediaries.
The first step for a chain is to understand that direct bookings are not just about having a website. It requires a distribution strategy, a frictionless booking engine and the ability to offer real-time prices and availability. Without a tool that centralises operations, each hotel ends up managing its own direct channel in isolation, with uneven results and a lot of manual work.
Centralising management: the foundation for scaling direct bookings
A hotel chain with a unified PMS and channel manager can manage all properties from a single dashboard. This not only saves hours of administration but also reduces availability and rate errors. When a central team controls inventory, direct bookings become a predictable and measurable operation. Avirato integrates PMS, booking engine and channel manager into a single platform, giving chains a unified view of the business.
Centralisation also enables consistent direct booking policies: always offering the best rate on your website, launching email marketing campaigns segmented by property and coordinating promotions. In addition, centralised revenue management helps adjust prices according to demand without each hotel going its own way.
Automation to free up time and sell more direct
Manual tasks are the silent enemy of direct bookings. Every reservation that comes in by phone or email requires confirmation, payment and synchronisation with other channels. If your team is overwhelmed, they won't have time to attract direct customers. Automation solves this: online check-in, integrated payments and automated guest communication free up hours of management.
Avirato automates the sending of confirmations, reminders and post-stay surveys. It also lets you set up email marketing flows to build guest loyalty and encourage direct repeat bookings. Less time on admin means more time to think about commercial strategy and improving the experience, which is what really turns an OTA customer into a direct customer.
The direct booking engine: your best salesperson 24/7
Your website's booking engine is the key piece for converting visits into bookings. It must be fast, intuitive and connected in real time to inventory. If the user sees one price and another appears at checkout, or if they can't easily complete payment, they'll go to the OTA. A commission-free booking engine, like Avirato's, lets you capture the booking directly and avoid paying third parties.
Additionally, a chain should leverage the advantage of hotel email marketing to attract past guests. With a unified database, you can launch campaigns segmented by hotel, type of stay or preferences. The goal is clear: to have the guest book direct next time.
Integrated payments and online check-in: less friction, more conversion
Payment friction is one of the main causes of abandonment in direct bookings. If your website doesn't offer secure, immediate payment, the guest will look for alternatives. Avirato Payments integrates the payment gateway into the booking engine, allowing you to charge automatically and securely. For chains with flexible cancellation policies, this is essential: you can set up partial charges, deposits or automatic charges according to each hotel's rules.
Online check-in also works in favour of direct bookings. A guest who can check in from their mobile before arrival, sign documents and receive a digital key enjoys a smoother experience. That positive experience then translates into a favourable review and a future direct booking. Moreover, automating check-in reduces the reception workload, allowing the team to focus on providing better customer service.
Centralised revenue management: consistent pricing across the chain
One of the most common mistakes in hotel chains is having different prices for the same room type depending on the channel or hotel. This confuses the customer and damages trust. With centralised revenue management, you can define pricing rules that apply to all properties, or adjust them per hotel according to its market. Avirato's AI suggests optimal prices based on demand, competition and seasonality, helping you maximise revenue without sacrificing competitiveness.
Consistent pricing also reinforces direct bookings. If the guest knows that your website always offers the best available rate (or at least the same as the OTAs), they'll have a real incentive to book with you. To achieve this, it's essential to synchronise rates and availability in real time between your booking engine and distribution channels. Avirato's channel manager does this automatically, preventing overbookings and discrepancies.
Key data for decision-making: what do you need to sell more direct?
| Element | Who it's for | When it's essential |
|---|---|---|
| Centralised PMS | Chains with 3 or more properties | From day one to avoid fragmented management |
| Direct booking engine | Any chain looking to grow direct bookings | Always, as the main conversion channel |
| Channel manager with instant synchronisation | Chains distributing through OTAs and wanting to avoid overbookings | When managing more than one sales channel |
| AI-powered revenue management | Chains with high seasonality or variable competition | To optimise prices and maximise revenue per room |
| Integrated payments | Chains wanting to reduce friction and secure payments | Always in the direct booking engine |
| Online check-in | Chains with busy receptions or looking to improve the experience | When you want to automate arrivals and free up staff |
These elements are not mutually exclusive: ideally, they should be combined in a single platform that centralises operations. Avirato offers exactly that: a comprehensive solution for hotel chains that want to sell more direct without multiplying tools or costs.
Steps to start reducing OTA dependency in your chain
- Audit your current distribution: measure what percentage of bookings come through OTAs and the real cost of commissions per hotel.
- Unify management: centralise PMS and channel manager to have a global view of inventory and prices.
- Optimise your booking engine: make sure it loads quickly, is mobile-friendly and offers secure payment. Include exclusive offers for direct bookings.
- Automate communication: set up confirmation, pre-stay and post-stay emails to build guest loyalty and encourage direct repeat bookings.
- Measure and adjust: review the evolution of direct bookings per hotel monthly and adjust pricing and marketing strategies.
It's not about eliminating OTAs overnight, but about building a solid and profitable direct channel. With the right technology, the process is much simpler than it seems.
Want to delve deeper? We've prepared a selection of common questions that hotel chain managers ask when they start working on their direct channel. They'll help you make informed decisions.
If you're looking for a comprehensive solution to centralise management and boost direct bookings in your hotel chain, request a free Avirato demo and discover how we can help you reduce OTA dependency.
Frequently asked questions
What percentage of bookings should be direct in a hotel chain?
There's no universal figure, but a realistic target is for direct bookings to represent at least 30-40% of the total. What matters is the trend: gradually reducing OTA dependency year after year by optimising your booking engine and loyalty efforts.
Is a specific PMS necessary for hotel chains?
Yes, a PMS designed for chains lets you manage multiple properties from a single interface, apply centralised pricing policies and obtain consolidated reports. It prevents data fragmentation and reduces manual work.
How can AI help increase direct bookings?
AI applied to revenue management suggests optimal prices based on demand and competition, allowing you to offer competitive rates on your website. It can also personalise offers for repeat guests, increasing the likelihood of direct booking.
What advantages does online check-in bring to direct bookings?
Online check-in reduces the reception workload and improves the guest experience, leading to better reviews and greater loyalty. It also allows you to capture contact details and preferences during the process for future email marketing campaigns.
How do I prevent my booking engine from competing with OTAs?
The key is to always offer the best available rate on your website (or at least the same) and guarantee instant synchronisation of prices and availability. An integrated channel manager prevents discrepancies that could frustrate the customer.