Why Direct Booking Is All the Rage with Operators but Draws Blank Faces from the Public

Rebecca Ward
12/1/2025

Within industry spaces, we talk about direct booking constantly. Operators praise it as a pathway to greater independence, stronger guest relationships, and healthier profit margins. It features prominently at conferences, in strategy sessions, and all over social media.

Between insiders, the cause feels strong: Relying solely on online travel agencies (OTAs) limits control, erodes brand identity, and drains margin.

Direct booking, by contrast, offers an alternative. It promises a bigger piece of the pie and long-term resilience. Everyone agrees. But step outside this echo chamber, and the picture shifts. Ask a friend or family member whether they’ve “booked direct,” and many won’t understand the question.

Until we make a real effort to inform the average Joe and Jane why booking direct is so positive, direct booking will never reach its full potential.

Trust Has Been Outsourced to OTAs

Over the past decade, OTAs have embedded themselves as the gatekeepers of trust. They own the reviews, control the branding, and dominate search results. Guests see the big platforms as safer, more dependable choices. However, most guests have no idea that booking through a third party limits their experience.

These platforms control communication by masking contact details and restricting what you can say in messages. They shape the guest journey to reduce friction, but always within their own ecosystem. That makes it harder for hosts and managers to build direct relationships.

Their review systems, policies, and loudspeaker branding have reshaped expectations about what a secure booking looks like. While being able to speak to someone on the phone used to be the ultimate security test, nowadays it means nothing without plenty of verified reviews and insurance promises.

Independent hosts and managers must now compete with the narrative that bigger is more trustworthy—on a fraction of the budget. Even excellent service can’t always outweigh the psychological weight of a giant brand like Airbnb, whose ad spend is strategically focused on brand-building over performance marketing. That means direct booking websites often struggle to convert first-time visitors, despite their https status, imported reviews, and professional image.

Speaking the Guest’s Language

This disconnect stems partly from language. “Direct booking” is industry jargon, not consumer language. It doesn’t resonate because most travelers think of the channel as the end product. “Airbnb” has become a category—and a verb—and if you ask most guests where they stayed on their last vacation, they probably won’t remember the name of the rental or hotel, but they might remember which site they booked on.

Interestingly, this doesn’t seem to be the same for the big hotel chains. Loyalty schemes and strong brand presence mean that guests book time and time again with the same brand, and they’ll often do it on their own platform. But the same doesn’t work for most vacation rental brands, even the large ones with lots of destinations.

To shift perceptions, we must speak in the language of experience. Guests care about quality, clarity, and local insight. Booking direct should mean easier contact, better knowledge, and a more personal stay.

Instead of repeating “book direct,” we must push the outcomes. “Speak to the owner.” “Get local tips.” “No hidden charges.” Or using language with clearer benefits, such as “Stop overpaying on vacation rentals” or “Pay zero commission fees when you book with owners.” These are messages that resonate and show the benefits for guests, not just for owners.

Making Booking Less Stressful

Guests are growing tired of pricing games, aggressive algorithms, and irrelevant suggestions from the OTAs. These booking engines often feel designed to sell at any cost, regardless of whether the property is actually right for the guest. The result is decision fatigue, taking the fun out of planning a vacation.

Direct booking, when done well, cuts through that noise. Guests remember being treated well, the personal touch that comes from speaking to the actual owner or manager rather than a call center. They leave helpful, honest reviews rather than being pressured to give five stars because anything less is a zero in the eyes of the algorithm, and come back year after year, or recommend the property or brand to their friends and family.

That’s why, as soon as the guest checks in, it needs to be your brand that they see, not the OTA’s.

From welcome guides to keychains, business cards to all your digital communications, during the stay is the owner or manager’s opportunity to educate the guest that they are staying with a person, not a corporation, and what that means in terms of keeping money in the community and enabling a fairer system.

The Path Forward

Changing guest behavior takes time and dedication, but it is possible. Every action we take, from designing websites to writing guest messages, needs to be clear and promote the benefits of direct booking for guests rather than just for owners and managers.

We’re not waging war on the platforms. Direct booking won’t be right for every guest, just as it isn’t right for every manager. But by rebalancing some of the power over the guest journey, we’re creating a booking environment that is fairer and more sustainable.

---