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ES Booking, Expedia, Airbnb... Do you love them or hate them? Probably both. The OTAs (Online Travel Agencies) are those platforms that, on the one hand, fill your rooms in low season, but on the other hand take a huge piece of your pie in the form of commissions that can exceed 20%. The dilemma is universal: without them you do not fill, but with them your profitability sinks. So how do you compete with giants that spend billions on digital marketing? How do you keep your hotel from depending on them to survive? The answer lies in designing strategies against OTAs that reinforce your brand, turn your website into a booking machine and transform OTA customers into loyal direct customers.
At weglobeyouAs a tourism marketing agency in Barcelona with national and international projects, we help hotels, resorts and golf courses every day to make that leap. And we are not just saying that: we have cases where we have gone from 1% to 30% of direct bookings in less than two years.
Want to know how? Let's get to it.
Why you can't live by OTAs alone
OTAs are not the devil. In fact, they serve a useful role: they give you international reach, immediate visibility and occupancy when the market is sluggish. The problem is when 70-80% of your reserves depend on them. Then they are no longer partners: they are your boss.
The risks are clear and tangible:
- Toxic commissionsup to one 25% of each reserve.
- Zero customer controlThe real email you never see, the direct link is cut.
- Unfair competitionYou appear in a showcase where the battle is fought on price, not value.
- Conditional visibilityIf you don't pay visibility boosters, your hotel will disappear from the ranking.
A real example? The Hotel Lemanin Mallorca. In 2021, 99% of its sales were from OTAs and tour operators. With a comprehensive digital strategy (web, SEO, Google Ads and social networks), they closed 2023 with a 23% of direct bookings and started 2024 exceeding 30%. A brutal difference in margins and customer control.
Strategies against OTAs: the plan that works
The question is not whether or not you should be on OTAs: the visibility they bring is real. The question is whether you want them to dictate the rules or you'd rather take back control of your own business. And this is where the strategies against OTAsdesigned to balance the scales and put your website at the center of the customer experience.
Here we are not going to repeat truisms such as "respond to the reviews". You already know that. Let's talk about real tactics that turn a dependent hotel into a business that owns its sales.
Your website: more than a showcase, a selling machine
Your website can't just be a pretty digital catalog: it must be your most profitable sales channel. If someone lands and it takes more than three clicks to find the "Book" button, you've already lost them. Every extra second of loading is a booking that leaks to Booking.
A fast and secure booking engine is not optional: it's your digital heart. Responsive design is not optional either: more than 70% of hotel searches are already done on mobile. And watch out for the photos: if they look like they were taken with a Nokia from 2005 on your website and in Booking they shine like a magazine, the client has already decided.
A clear case in point was seen with Parada Beacha glamping where the web was the epicenter of the whole strategy. It wasn't just about showing beautiful tents: it was about transmitting the immersive experience, connecting with the traveler and facilitating booking in two clicks. Result: from zero to full in the first season.
Optimizing your website is not a whim: it is one of the most important strategies against OTAs more effective, because it converts visits into direct bookings without paying commissions.
SEO: the terrain where OTAs are not invincible
OTAs spend millions on Google Ads and occupy the top positions in almost any search. But this is precisely their Achilles' heel: not everything is won on a budget. An independent hotel can shine with an intelligent combination of SEO and SEM.
In SEO, it's not about fighting for "hotel in Madrid", where you would be competing against half the planet. The key is to attack with long-tail keywords much more specific: "boutique hotel in Valencia with private spa", "romantic hotel in Granada with views of the Alhambra" or "family hotel on the Costa Brava with free parking". These are searches with less competition, but with a much clearer booking intent.
The Local SEO is your secret weapon: a complete Google Business listing, recent photos and constant reviews put you on the map for key searches such as "hotel in the old town of Seville".
And when you want to go a step further, enter the Brand and opportunity SEM. Protecting your own name in Google Ads is essential: if someone searches for your hotel, they should find you before Booking. You can also launch tactical campaigns in low season, with specific offers to capture quick bookings. SEM is immediate, SEO is sustained; together they become the perfect combination to reduce dependency on OTAs.
Pricing: the war is not about prices, it's about value
You will never beat an OTA by lowering rates. Their scale is another league. What you can do is win in added value.
Keep the same base price, but make booking on your website clearly better: a welcome cocktail, an upgrade based on availability, a late check-out, a more flexible cancellation policy.
This does not break price parity, but it breaks indifference. And it makes a difference.
The Hotel Casa Lorenzo Albacete successfully applied it: it stopped engaging in tariff wars and opted for exclusive value in its direct channel. Today, the 85% of its reserves are without intermediaries.
Loyalty: converts the OTA customer into a direct customer
Every guest that comes through Booking is a potential customer of your direct channel. It's up to you to make sure they never book through OTAs again.
This is where the loyaltyExclusive clubs with clear advantages, well segmented emails, hotel CRMs that remember preferences and personalize offers.
In the Hotel Apoloniain Soria, went from 5% to 56% of direct bookings in four years thanks to a solid CRM and well-designed loyalty campaigns. It was not a matter of aggressive discounting, but of personalized service.
Email marketing and loyalty programs are strategies against OTAs that convert guests into repeat customers, reducing dependence on external channels.
Social networks: less posturing, more conversion
Instagram and Facebook are not for filling your feed with pool photos. They are channels for inspiration and conversion.
The secret is to tell stories: experiences that make the traveler dream, scenes that awaken the "I want to be there" feeling. Add to that segmented campaigns and collaborations with real microinfluencersnot celebrities for hire. That is what generates trust and traffic to your website.
Innovation: AI and data to play in the premier league
Technology is no longer just for large chains. Today, an independent hotel can compete with data and artificial intelligence.
Dashboards of Business Intelligence that show where your customers come from and what they are looking for. Chatbots on your website that answer questions and close reservations at any time. Campaign automation that hit with the right message at the right time.
Those who already apply it not only reduce dependence on OTAs: they also improve their ADR and its overall profitability.
Using the power of OTAs to your advantage
It is not a matter of eliminating them, but of turn them around.
The Billboard Effect works: many travelers discover your hotel on Booking, but then search for your website. Make sure what they find is irresistible.
The retargeting multiply your options: impact with personalized ads to those who visited your website without booking. "Did you see us on Booking? Book direct now and get a free upgrade". That kind of message converts.
And the conversion to stay is key: every OTA guest that walks through your door should leave as a direct customer. A simple discount code for their next booking is enough to get them started.
Metrics that matter: the battle is measured in numbers
If you don't measure, you don't improve. The key metrics in any strategy against OTAs are clear:
- % of direct bookings against intermediaries.
- ADR as an indicator of profitability.
- ROAS (Return on Ad Spend) in Ads campaigns.
- Acquisition cost per channel.
The key is to find the mix that maximizes your margins. And the strategies against OTAs help you move the balance in your favor. At weglobeyouWe always work with this complete picture: because it's not about filling for the sake of filling, but about better fillwith customers who leave more margin and come back.
Become independent without fear
OTAs aren't going to disappear tomorrow, and that's fine: they're part of the game. But if you want your hotel to be more than just a pawn on their board, you need a plan. With the strategies against appropriate OTAsBy taking back control, you can regain control, improve margins and build direct relationships with your customers.
At weglobeyouWe have been proving for years that it can be done: hotels that went from 1% to 30% of direct sales, resorts that multiplied their ROAS and teams that now dominate their data and customers.
If you want to stop relying on intermediaries and start writing your own digital story, talk to us. There is no one who understands better how to balance the scales and make OTAs what they should be: a support, not your owner.
And just in case you are still hungry for more: discover how to increase direct hotel bookings.