In 2025, moderate revenue growth is expected to continue, with Google maintaining its dominant position and distribution costs rising. To navigate these challenges and optimize both revenue and cost-efficiency, here are professional insights from the hospitality and travel tech industry :
1. Prioritize Direct Distribution
In 2024, the average cost of direct distribution was 3.5% in Europe and APAC—significantly lower than OTA commissions (15–28%) and wholesalers (20–40%).
Direct bookings enhance profitability, provide full ownership of the guest relationship, enable upselling opportunities, and grant access to valuable first-party data.
2. Offer the Best Rate on Your Official Website
With metasearch engines enabling price comparisons, parity is no longer enough. To improve conversion rates and reduce acquisition costs, ensure your direct channel consistently offers the most attractive rate. Hotels that do so report higher conversion and revenue performance.
3. Maximize Organic Traffic with SEO
In 2024, SEO and direct traffic accounted for two-thirds of direct booking revenue, at a distribution cost of just 1.7%. Boost SEO efficiency by:
- Optimizing website speed and mobile responsiveness
- Structuring quality content around targeted keywords
- Enhancing visibility organically to attract high-intent traffic
4. Optimize Paid Search Campaigns
Search advertising outperformed all other channels in 2024. For higher ROI:
- Bid on branded and long-tail keywords (hotel name, location, USP)
- Craft high-converting ad copy
- Explore Bing Ads as a cost-effective alternative to Google
5. Diversify Metasearch Advertising
Despite a revenue dip in 2024, metasearch remains a key ROI-positive acquisition channel.
- Google Hotel Ads remains dominant, but experimenting with Tripadvisor or Trivago can mitigate overdependence
- Monitor and adjust budgets based on each platform’s performance
6. Leverage Free Booking Links—While You Still Can
Free Booking Links (FBL) revenue declined in 2024, and the future of this feature is uncertain. Still, as long as it’s active, it’s a no-cost opportunity worth seizing.
To…
