Online travel agents (OTAs) emerged in the 1990s and reshaped the hotel industry and the way that travel was researched and booked. Today, hundreds of channels exist, and the top OTAs drive millions of reservations for hotels on a daily basis.
Over the past year, in part due to the pandemic and changing traveler expectations, OTAs have evolved to include more innovative categories, extensive service offerings, and unique travel experiences. Hoteliers must be active across multiple OTAs to reach travelers and leverage each OTA platform’s notable features and functionality.
Read on to learn more about five new OTA trends affecting the hospitality industry today.
#1. Airbnb’s rapid expansion
Airbnb’s revenue soared in 2021, topping over $1.5 billion USD in its fourth quarter. While sales continue to increase, Airbnb struggles to find hosts to meet the increasing travel demand, especially hosts who can accommodate more long-term stays of multiple weeks or months.
A part of Airbnb’s success can be attributed to its investments in the platform. In 2021, it released over 150 new features, and in June of 2022, they have released three new offerings:
- AirCover for guests – comprehensive travel protection for guests included for free with every stay.
- Airbnb categories – a new search method that makes it easy to discover millions of properties across 50+ categories, such as amazing views, creative spaces, historic homes, and more.
- Split Stays – allows travelers to split their trip between two different homes, increasing the number of listings found when searching for more extended stays.
#2. Google Hotel Search disrupts the OTA space
Google Hotel Search is quickly taking over the hospitality industry and driving more direct bookings for hotels worldwide. With Google Hotel Search, each time a traveler enters a property’s name into Google, they will be shown a list of rates from various OTAs. Google free booking links are integrated into Google Hotel Search so that properties can also list their rates in this search to capture more direct bookings.
Google offers Google Hotel Search and free booking links to properties at no cost, unlike Google Hotel Ads, which operates on a cost-per-click (CPC) model. In 2022, Google expanded Hotel Search and free booking links to be included in Google Search and Maps so that properties have even more opportunities to capture direct bookings throughout the platform.
#3. OTAs expand to include unique travel experiences
Traveler expectations have evolved, and today, high value is placed on unique experiences. OTAs have responded to this change by introducing new property types like Airbnb’s converted grain silos or luxury treehouses. In June 2022, Airbnb introduced a $10 million USD OMG! Fund to finance property owners as they transform their property into genuinely unique travel destinations.
In addition, OTAs are introducing experience-based offerings to give travelers the option to add unique experiences to their stay. Hostelworld, for example, recently introduced “Roamies,” a new group travel tour for those looking to visit lesser-known spots and interact with local communities.
#4. Business travel lags while domestic leisure travel soars
The pandemic accelerated the move to remote work, and companies have realised the efficiencies of virtual meetings to conduct business, reducing the need for business travel. It’s predicted that it will take until at least 2024 or 2025 for business travel to recover to pre-pandemic rates – if they ever do.
Bleisure travel, a blend of leisure and business travel, has risen in popularity and extends the length of previously short business trips to give travelers time to explore the area. Extended bleisure stays combined with remote work will continue the surge in short-term rentals demand.
The pandemic has also caused domestic leisure travel to soar, with over 1.4 billion domestic trips in the United States and 75% of all United Kingdom travel coming from domestic tourism. Properties should capitalize on this opportunity by seeking out regional OTAs and crafting offers surrounding staycations or weekend getaways.
#5. OTAs entice travelers with sustainability badges
OTAs have implemented new sustainability initiatives to satisfy travelers’ expectations. 61% of global travelers say that the pandemic made them want to travel more sustainably in the future, with 73% more likely to choose accommodations that have implemented sustainability practices. Booking.com, for example recently introduced 32 new verified sustainability practices for properties to display on their OTA listing.
An eventful year for OTAs
The past year has seen a lot of change across the industry as travel ramped up again after significant declines. Properties and OTAs were tasked with adapting their strategies and offerings to meet new customer expectations. Moving forward, hoteliers must be strategic in building their OTA channel mix to ensure they reach their target audience and provide them with the proper amenities. Properties should consider investing in a channel manager to automate distribution to better manage their channel strategy. A channel manager can help keep data in-sync, increase competitiveness, and reduce overbookings.
Nancy Huang is the director of Marketing Communications at Cloudbeds. She has 15 years of experience working in marketing at the intersection where hospitality and travel meet technology and e-commerce. When she’s not studying travel trends or ideating marketing campaigns, she loves traveling, dining, and swimming in really cold lakes.
