14 · Independent hotels and B&Bs
The guest who found you on a booking site books direct next time.
Every stay booked through an agent costs you commission. Guests who join your wifi get one well-timed invitation to come back, booked with you.
For the owner
Today, without it
A large share of rooms are sold through sites that take a cut of every night.
The hotel never gets the guest's own email address, only a masked one.
Returning guests go back to the same booking site out of habit.
Try it
Where this month's nights came from
Move the share of nights that come through booking sites and see what the commission adds up to.
The hotel
420 room-nights in a 30-night month
Booking sitesDirectEmpty
Night 1 to night 30, left to right. The marks underneath are Fridays and Saturdays, which fill first.
- Nights sold
- 286£32,890
- Via booking sites
- 172£19,780
- Direct
- 114£13,110
Commission on this month’s nights
£2,967
172 nights × £115 × 15%
Now follow one of those booking-site guests
Marta K. booked through a booking site. The only address the hotel was given is mk-7f3q2@guest.booking-site.example.
1. She joins the wifi
Online, but the box is not ticked. The address is used for the wifi session only, and no message will ever be sent to it.
2. She goes home
No message can be sent, so nothing happens when she leaves. Fix step 1 first.
3. Her next stay
Locked until the message in step 2 has gone out. Without it there is nothing to change her habit.
Booking sites
Direct
Commission paid on this stay: £34.50
2 nights × £115 × 15%, from the sliders above. One guest, one stay.
A made-up guest and made-up addresses. The hotel is whatever the sliders say. Nothing on this page is sent.
Online, but the box is not ticked. The address is used for the wifi session only, and no message will ever be sent to it.
How it runs
Four steps, nobody chasing.
STEP 1
Guests join the wifi with their own email and agree to hear from you.
STEP 2
After they leave, they get a thank-you and a reason to book direct.
STEP 3
Quiet weeks are offered to past guests before they are discounted online.
STEP 4
You see how many nights came back direct, and what was not paid in commission.
Your numbers
What booking-site commission costs a year
Example figures, change them
Letting bedrooms.
Share of room-nights sold, from your booking system.
Room revenue divided by nights sold.
What the booking sites charge on each stay.
Commission paid to booking sites
£35,966 a year
- Room-nights sold in a year
- 3,475
- Of those, through booking sites
- 2,085
- Room revenue through booking sites
- £239,775
- Commission on every 5 points of share (174 nights)
- £3,002
The sum
14 rooms × 365 nights × 68% occupancy = 3,475 nights sold. 60% through booking sites = 2,085 nights × £115 × 15% commission = £35,966. 5 points of share is 174 nights × £115 × 15% = £3,002. Your numbers multiplied together, with no guess about how many nights could move.
This is arithmetic on your own figures. It is not a promise of results.
Works with what you have
Sits beside your booking system, your guest wifi and your own website.
Every demo on this site runs on made-up data. The real one is built around your phone line, your diary and the software you already use.
Get in touch
See it run on your own numbers.
Two quick answers. Adrians replies by email and shows you the system working with your figures, not ours.
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