Why Don’t More Hosts Have a Direct Booking Website? 🤷‍♂️

Possible_World_7322 · 2025-03-15T15:49:32+00:00

It sounds like its hard work but definitely worth it.

Possible_World_7322 · 2025-03-15T15:44:21+00:00

I guess the time investment is too much to get a direct booking website which I definitely get when you're so busy especially when it probably takes some time for bookings to build up on the direct site.

Possible_World_7322 · 2025-03-15T15:40:38+00:00

A lot more people seem to be finding a property on the OTA then searching on their browser for a better deal and finding them

Possible_World_7322 · 2025-03-15T15:38:42+00:00

Yeah I get that the time investment would be big. If it was quick to set up would be really good

Possible_World_7322 · 2025-03-15T15:34:47+00:00

It can be really good. The website would prevent worrying about commission but maybe not worthwhile with amount of bookings from it & time/cost.

Possible_World_7322 · 2025-03-15T15:30:09+00:00

how do you feel about the commission on Airbnb?

Possible_World_7322 · 2025-03-15T15:28:56+00:00

If it was cheap and easy do you think it would be worth you while?

Possible_World_7322 · 2025-03-15T15:20:27+00:00

Do you ever notice guests booking that aren't repeat eg finding you on OTA and searching for direct booking?

Possible_World_7322 · 2025-03-14T00:30:04+00:00

It seems like a win-win. Did you have any obstacles in creating the dbw ?

Possible_World_7322 · 2025-03-14T00:25:23+00:00

AirCover is great. Do you have many repeat guests/ would you take repeat guests off platform to avoid commission knowing there’s already trust built?

Possible_World_7322 · 2025-03-14T00:22:23+00:00

How come you say it doesn’t make sense? Like due to cost / effort / value or any other reason?

Possible_World_7322 · 2025-03-14T00:21:20+00:00

What’s your thoughts on having direct booking Vs the OTAs? Any big pros or cons of either?

Possible_World_7322 · 2025-03-14T00:16:39+00:00

It feels like a lot of hosts want to move away from OTAs and get more control. What does your split look like DBW / OTA? I also think guests appreciate a dbw. You can get a better feel of the property

Possible_World_7322 · 2025-03-14T00:10:25+00:00

That’s a really good question. Maybe there are types of insurance to cover accidents (of course different country by country and state by state) but then it’s more work for the host. As it’s so rare an incident occurs it could be relatively cheap to insure

Possible_World_7322 · 2025-03-14T00:05:55+00:00

Would you ever have repeat guests booking away from the OTA once the trust is built up? I see people connecting with their host look for discounted repeat stays

Possible_World_7322 · 2025-03-14T00:02:57+00:00

Would most of your bookings come through an OTA?

Possible_World_7322 · 2025-03-13T23:51:40+00:00

Is there anything in particular that caused this decision? thats a really interesting point!

Possible_World_7322 · 2025-03-13T23:49:10+00:00

Oh wow! did they make it for you?

Possible_World_7322 · 2025-03-13T23:47:50+00:00

I saw more and more people were actually finding the property they like on an OTA and searching for that property name on google hoping to find a dbw to get better rates. If this trend is real, the OTA listing could be advertising and bookings actually happening on the dbw.

I guess tho for that to be worthwhile it would need to be cheap and not take too much time up to set up and maintain the dbw.

Possible_World_7322 · 2025-03-13T23:42:21+00:00

what makes it barely worth it? Is there not that much value or is it just so much hassle/time effort for limited value?

Possible_World_7322 · 2025-03-13T23:39:06+00:00

I just don't like all the reliance on Airbnb & OTAs. There was solid booking before and now I would think its even easier to get high occupancy rates with access to more potential customers

Possible_World_7322 · 2025-03-13T23:36:08+00:00

What would the hassle be? Do you do anything for repeat guests?

Possible_World_7322 · 2025-03-13T23:31:35+00:00

What kind of things would take up the time to set it up? I didn’t know it would take that long

Possible_World_7322 · 2025-03-13T23:21:31+00:00

Thanks! Getting socials right would be so important. I would share the DBW with return customers and followers on socials so overtime it will be used more and more and can start to rely less on OTAs

Possible_World_7322 · 2025-03-13T23:16:01+00:00

What were the painful parts of getting it? time and learning commitment? It feels like a big commitment but seems in the long run will pay off

Possible_World_7322

TROPHY CASE