Besides the cost of bookings being the obvious difference between direct and third-party bookings, there is also a distinction between the types of customers coming via these two channel categories.
Travellers who use Direct channels are most likely to have either stayed with you before, or show a preference for your hotel in some other way (eg. specific location, price point, room types, facilities). Therefore, Direct needs to be at the core of your retention marketing plans, where you focus on how to retain such customers
Travellers who have made a booking via a Third Party channel are likely to be first-time guests at your hotel. They likely would never have heard of your hotel before, and found you based on suggestions from OTAs or meta channels, taking into account your indicated preferences. Therefore, third-party channels should be at the core of your acquisition marketing plans, where you introduce yourself to new potential travellers in an as cost effective way as possible
It is important to be clear of your hotel’s objectives, which will guide how much focus you would place on each channel type. While the mix would differ slightly by hotel, it is necessary to have a strategy in place for both types of channels.
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Tags: Direct channels, third-party channels, direct vs third-party, customer acquisition, customer retention, hotel marketing, OTA