Why I've Created the OTA Exit Strategy for Holiday Let Owners
After more than 15 years working in digital marketing, including working with some of the biggest hotel brands in the UK as well as independent hotels, holiday lets and accommodation businesses, there's one problem I see again and again.
Too many properties are completely reliant on OTAs for their bookings.
They've got a brilliant property, great reviews and guests who would happily come back, but the majority of those bookings are still coming through Airbnb or Booking.com.
Now, I'm not anti-OTA. They can be brilliant for getting your property seen, reaching new guests and filling gaps in your calendar. The problem is when they become your entire booking strategy.
There's one question I often ask my clients: If Airbnb stopped bringing you bookings tomorrow, what would happen to your business?
Would people still find you on Google? Would they know the name of your property? Would your website generate bookings? Could you reach your previous guests and encourage them to come back?
A lot of the businesses I work with struggle to answer those questions. Without the OTAs, their property could easily get forgotten about, despite having a brilliant place to stay and plenty of happy guests.
And that's exactly why I've created the OTA Exit Strategy.
Getting direct bookings takes more than a website
I've worked with some of the biggest names in hospitality, including Hilton, Marriott, Crowne Plaza and Holiday Inn, alongside independent hotels and holiday lets, and one thing has always been clear: you need more than one way for guests to find you.
Having a direct booking website is a great start, but putting a BOOK NOW button on a website isn't suddenly going to bring in bookings.
People need to find you first.
They might discover your property through Google, see you on Instagram, save a Reel for later or remember you from a previous stay. Your website, SEO, social media, content and email marketing all have a part to play, and they work much better when they're working together.
That's really where the idea for the OTA Exit Strategy came from. Instead of looking at one part of your marketing in isolation, it looks at the whole journey and where you're potentially losing direct bookings.
Can't book direct? You need a website. Can't find you? You need SEO. Don't know you exist? You need social media. Not convinced to stay? You need better content. Don't come back? You need email marketing. Don't know where to start? You need a strategy.
So, what is the OTA Exit Strategy?
The OTA Exit Strategy is about giving you more control over where your bookings come from.
We'll look at how guests currently find you, where they book, what happens after their stay and, most importantly, where you're relying too heavily on the OTAs.
For some properties, the biggest opportunity might be getting found on Google. For others, it could be making their website work harder, building a stronger social presence or actually keeping in touch with the hundreds of guests who have already stayed.
It's not about throwing every type of marketing at your property. It's about working out what will actually make a difference to your business and putting a clear plan in place to start shifting more bookings direct.
And despite the name, I'm not going to tell you to delete Airbnb. Use the OTAs to reach new guests and fill gaps when you need them, while building your own audience, your own visibility and your own routes to booking.
The OTA Exit Strategy is now live. If you're relying heavily on OTAs and want to start changing that, you can find out more below.
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