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OTA commission calculator

Plug in rooms, ADR, occupancy, OTA share, and blended commission. See annual OTA commission spend plus what a percentage-point shift from OTAs to direct would save.

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Annual OTA commission spend, and what shifting share to direct would save

Plug in your own numbers. The output is your scenario, not our claim. Booking.com commissions sit in the 15-18% band for most independents; Expedia in the 18-25% band; Airbnb 14-16% combined host plus guest fees. Your blended rate depends on channel mix and participation tier.

Your scenario

Annual OTA commission spend now

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Annual commission after shift

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Annual savings from the shift

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A pp-of-channel shift is meaningful but not free: gaining 5 pp of direct typically requires booking-engine improvements, content marketing, and a working post-stay rebooking flow. The savings figure is the upper bound; net of acquisition cost it lands lower.

How the math connects

  • Annual room revenue = rooms × 365 × occupancy % × ADR
  • OTA commission spend = annual revenue × OTA share % × commission %
  • Post-shift commission = annual revenue × (OTA share − shift) % × commission %
  • Savings = pre minus post commission spend

Published commission ranges: Booking.com 15-18% (Genius tier participation adjusts up), Expedia 18-25% depending on Travel Agency Affiliate Program tier, Airbnb 14-16% combined host plus guest fees. Your blended commission depends on the mix of those channels and your participation tier on each.

How to read the result

The savings figure is the upper bound: it shows what the property would spend on commission alone if the assumed share of bookings shifted from OTAs to direct, with no other variable changed. Net of the cost of acquiring those direct bookings (booking-engine investment, content marketing, post-stay rebooking flows, and the lower base ADR many direct guests bring), the realised savings land lower.

What drives blended commission

  • Channel mix: a property running 70% Booking.com plus 30% Expedia carries a different blended commission than one running 50% Booking.com plus 50% Expedia, even at identical participation tiers.
  • Tier participation: Booking.com\'s Genius and Preferred programs raise commission in exchange for visibility; both are optional.
  • Markets: regional OTAs (Trip.com in APAC, MakeMyTrip in India, Despegar in LATAM) carry different commission structures that can shift the blended rate materially.

What actually moves OTA-to-direct share

  • Booking engine quality: a poor booking engine loses 30-40% of would-be direct conversions to the OTAs the visitor came from. See the best booking engines for small hotels shortlist.
  • Post-stay rebooking flows: capturing the guest contact and pushing a "book direct next time" offer 30 days after stay is the highest-leverage repeat-guest lever.
  • Direct-only offers: closed-user-group rates (members, loyalty program) sit outside parity in any jurisdiction. See direct-booking strategies that reduce OTA fees.

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