To put it simply, a Direct Booking is a hotel reservation made directly through direct channels owned by the business itself. Direct Channels can be: Phone, Own Website, walk ins, etc.

The opposite of a Direct Booking is an Indirect Booking, or a reservation coming from a third party: a travel agency, an OTA like booking.com, airbnb.com or Expedia.com. Each third party reservation will individually cost the hotel, via a fixed commission or an altered rate (while a direct booking costs are usually variable and depending on factors such as initial investment and raw number of reservations).

Direct booking campaigns are the most important piece of hotel marketing as they allow the hotel to lower its customers acquisition costs. Encouraging guests to ‘Book Direct’ means reduced commissions paid to third-parties portals and a stronger, unrestrained by OTAs connection with guests.

Without a third-party, a hotel can communicate and market to guests as it pleases: before, during, and after their stay, and to remain in control of the whole booking, staying in and reviewing process.