If OTA winback felt hard before, AI just raised the stakes.
Over 68% of travelers still default to OTAs when booking hotels, but a seismic shift is underway. Now about one in three travelers are interested in letting AI-powered travel assistants like ChatGPT, Google Gemini Travel, and Trip.com AI help them discover properties, and they’re even letting them handle the booking for them.
As a result, you’re not only competing with Booking.com and Expedia’s massive marketing budgets, but you’re also fighting for visibility in AI-powered automated decision flows that prioritize speed, convenience, and price over everything else.
But there’s good news. Research shows guests actually prefer direct relationships with hotels. They want to be recognized. They want the personalized service and exclusive perks that come with loyalty. They just haven’t been given compelling enough reasons to break their OTA habits.
This guide walks you through 10 battle-tested OTA winback strategies built for this new reality. Let’s talk about how to get those guests back.
Top 10 OTA Winback strategies hotels can use today
You don’t need a massive budget or tech overhaul to start winning back customers. These 10 proven strategies work for properties of any size, and some you can implement this week – helping you compete where OTAs and AI are fighting for control of your guest relationships.
Strategy #1: Know your guest (even when they book through an OTA)
The foundation of an effective OTA winback strategy is having unified customer profiles. A strong guest data platform integrates with your existing PMS, CRM, and other systems, capturing every interaction, whether someone books direct or through Booking.com.
One challenge? About 21% of your database is full of masked emails. OTAs do this deliberately to keep that guest relationship locked down. Identity resolution technology is crucial for OTA winback. It transforms anonymous Expedia transactions into actual guests you can reach with personalized hotel marketing. Every touchpoint after that helps you build a continuous brand relationship that no third-party platform can touch.
Quick Win: Audit your database to see how many masked OTA emails you’re sitting on. Then prioritize identity resolution technology to unmask them. You’ll immediately gain real contacts you can market to.
Strategy #2: Strike while the iron’s hot with post-stay campaigns
The moment an OTA guest checks out is your best window for OTA winback. Set up automated post-stay campaigns that thank guests and invite them to book direct next time with exclusive perks – early check-in, upgrades, welcome amenities.
Use a post-stay survey as the hook, asking for feedback and offering to add them to your email list in exchange for direct-only benefits. Recurring OTA winback campaigns average a 53.2% open rate. TPG properties drove $18K in direct revenue from these campaigns alone, demonstrating how post-stay outreach is one of the highest-ROI engines for any hotel direct booking strategy.
Quick Win: Set up an automated email 24 to 48 hours after checkout to every OTA guest. Thank them, ask for feedback, and offer one compelling direct-booking perk for their next direct stay, then add more sophistication as you see results.
Strategy #3: Win them over before they arrive
Don’t wait until checkout to start your OTA winback efforts. Set up automated pre-arrival campaigns that reach OTA guests before they even cross your threshold. Send personalized welcome emails highlighting your property’s personality, local recommendations, or special amenities. This early engagement shifts the relationship from transactional to personal.
Automated campaigns give even small teams an always-on channel for driving direct revenue. Triumph Hotels reduced OTA dependence by up to 20% using this approach. When guests feel connected to your brand before arrival, they’re more likely to book direct next time. It’s a low-effort, high-impact hotel direct booking strategy.
Quick Win: Set up one automated pre-arrival email going out three to five days before check-in to every guest. Share local recommendations, mention upgrade opportunities, and include a loyalty program signup link. This single touchpoint starts building the relationship from the get-go.
Strategy #4: Use instant perks to win more direct bookings
You don’t have to undercut OTA pricing. Match their rates but stack on immediate benefits third-party channels can’t offer: free breakfast, complimentary parking, or flexible cancellation. This is how hotels create channel advantages OTAs and AI systems can’t replicate – by leveraging what you control.
Guests aren’t always chasing the lowest price – they want value and peace of mind. When your hotel direct booking strategy promises rate parity plus tangible perks, you give them a compelling reason to skip the middleman.
Quick Win: To reduce OTA dependence, create a “Book Direct Benefits” banner on your homepage listing three instant perks. Frame it clearly: “Book direct, get more.”
Strategy #5: Out-personalize the algorithms
What drives the highest conversion rates in OTA winback is hyper-personalized outreach that generic algorithms can’t match. AI travel assistants suggest hotels by location and price, but they can’t leverage your first-party data. Use past preferences, travel patterns, and spending behavior to send tailored offers in real time.
Ambiente™ Sedona uses first-party data to personalize email content, and their monthly newsletter drives nearly $300K in direct room revenue.
Seek strategic partnerships with local restaurants or attractions to create exclusive bundles available only through direct booking. When offers feel “made for me,” you reduce OTA dependence while building genuine loyalty.
Quick Win: Partner with two or three local businesses to create a simple local experience package available only on your direct booking channels.
Strategy #6: Make sure AI travel assistants can find you
AI trip-planning tools aren’t your enemy, they’re a new discovery channel. Platforms like ChatGPT, Google Gemini, and Siri now shape how guests discover hotels, so you need to be visible when they pull recommendations. Structure your website for easy AI readability, keep listings updated across platforms, and build strong review profiles.
Publish detailed FAQ pages and rich, experience-focused content about amenities and your local area that these AI in hospitality platforms search for. When an AI assistant searches for “pet-friendly hotels in Austin with rooftop pools,” your content should be the answer. That visibility is foundational for an effective hotel direct booking strategy.
Quick Win: Create a comprehensive FAQ page that answers specific traveler questions – “Do you allow pets?”, “What’s walkable from your hotel?”, “Do you have EV charging?”. Use natural language to effectively feed AI recommendations.
Strategy #7: Retarget smart with segmentation and urgency
Use first-party data to reduce OTA dependence by getting granular with segmentation. Use pixel tracking to identify guests who viewed your property on third-party sites but didn’t book, then retarget them with ads showing the exact room type or dates they searched, plus a direct booking discount code expiring within 48 hours.
Apply this same segmentation logic to your email campaigns. Without filters, email open rates sit around 31.5%. But when you use your data to narrow audiences to under 5,000 guests, open rates jump to 43.9%. Whether it’s paid ads or email, adjust offers dynamically by segment. When travelers see exactly what they searched for with a ticking clock, your OTA winback efforts outperform generic blasts.
Quick Win: Separate past guests by trip type (leisure vs. business). Send targeted offers: families get summer packages, business travelers get workation deals. Even basic personalization beats generic campaigns every time.
Strategy #8: Build exclusivity that OTAs can’t duplicate
Build a VIP direct booker tier with benefits that move the needle: guaranteed upgrades, priority restaurant reservations, complimentary spa credits, exclusive event access, or members-only peak rates. Make it clear these perks only exist for direct bookers.
Create “Insiders Only” packages never available on OTA channels. Think seasonal experiences like a “Refresh & Recharge” spring wellness weekend with yoga sessions and spa credits, or curated local tours. When you offer experiences OTAs can’t list, you’re not just implementing an OTA winback strategy – you’re creating exclusivity that turns casual bookers into brand loyalists.
Quick Win: Create one “Direct Bookers Only” perk you can deliver consistently, like guaranteed late checkout, Wi-Fi upgrade, or a $25 dining credit. Promote it everywhere. Once guests experience the benefit, they’ll remember it exists only when they book direct.
Strategy #9: Turn mobile browsers into direct bookers with smart AI
Over one-third of global bookings happen on mobile, so your direct booking experience needs to be frictionless. Streamline your mobile booking engine with one-click booking, Apple Pay integration, and saved profiles that match OTA convenience.
Then take it further. Deploy conversational AI texting on your website and mobile app that answers questions, compares rooms, and completes bookings in real time – just like AI travel assistants do. The difference? Your AI highlights direct-only perks: If you book now, I can guarantee early check-in and a complimentary upgrade.
This mirrors the ease guests expect while reinforcing why direct booking is smarter.
Quick Win: Test your mobile booking flow right now on your phone. Time how long booking takes, and count screens required. If it’s slower than an OTA, simplify it. Remove unnecessary fields, enable autofill, and add Apple Pay/Google Pay.
Strategy #10: Let your people do what technology can’t
OTAs and AI travel planners will never replace authentic human connection. Your front desk team has face-to-face time with guests – use it. One of the biggest mistakes properties make when trying to shift guests from OTA to direct is neglecting the human element. Train staff to personally invite OTA customers to book direct next time, but make it feel like genuine advice, not a sales pitch. Equip them with simple talking points: Next time you book directly, I can make sure you get that corner room you love.
Consider incentivizing your team when they convert guests to your email list or loyalty program. Using a personal touch creates moments that stick long after automated confirmations fade – relationship-building no algorithm can match, and one of the most underutilized tools in any OTA winback strategy.
Quick Win: Create a one-page script with two to three natural conversation starters about direct booking benefits. Role-play it during your next team meeting. Then track conversions. Even five to ten guests per week adds up to hundreds of owned relationships annually.
The future of direct booking in an AI-driven ecosystem
The distribution landscape is shifting fast. Over the next few years, expect AI-powered discovery, voice-activated booking, and hyper-personalized guest journeys to become the norm. Hotels that combine personalization, direct value, and intelligent automation will win the guest relationship.
Reducing OTA dependence requires a comprehensive approach: owned guest data, compelling direct-only value, frictionless technology, and genuine human connection working together. It’s not about one brilliant campaign, it’s about building a system where direct booking becomes the obvious choice.
Ready to go deeper? Join the OTA winback strategies track in the Direct Booking Mastery Certification to learn how to own the guest relationship and convert OTA bookers into loyal, direct-booking guests. Let’s reclaim those relationships.
About Revinate
Revinate is a direct booking platform that leads the hospitality industry in driving direct revenue and increased profitability.
Our products and our people combine to give hoteliers the superpowers they need to crush their goals. With Revinate, hoteliers shift share away from OTAs and drive tangible results across an individual property or a portfolio. Our industry-leading, AI-powered customer data platform collects, unifies, and synthesizes data to give hoteliers a foundational advantage.
Hoteliers gain critical intelligence — guest lifetime spend, stay preferences, ancillary revenue, and more. With Revinate’s Rich Guest Profiles™ data, hoteliers don’t need to guess who their most profitable guests are or struggle to drive conversions across email, voice, messaging, and digital channels.
Revinate’s direct booking platform and omnichannel communication technology powers 950+ million Rich Guest Profiles across 12,500+ hotels to drive over $17.2 billion in direct revenue.
Media Team
Media team | Revinate
+1 415 671 4703
Revinate, Inc.
