UK hospitality sector sees 7% uptick in direct bookings in Q1

Direct bookings in the UK hotel sector has seen a robust growth of 7% year on year rather than going via a third party OTA’s (Online Travel Agents such as Booking.com and Tripadvisor), according to recent in-house research by BestBookDirect.com.

The research, which sought the views of a random sample of one thousand website visitors to the BestBookDirect.com website over two months in Spring 2025, revealed that the number one reason cited was brand loyalty (78%), where a customer wished to return to a favoured hotel or holiday provider often incentivised by loyalty rewards which could range from discounted room rates or complimentary extras such as free nights or a welcome gift.

Ease of website use and quality of information (45%) was also rated a significant factor by guests with many saying that there was far greater information and photos to browse through on the actual providers website, opposed to using an OTA’s website which often only ‘scrapes’ the parent brand website, thereby only creating a brief description which can lack the significant details that potential guests are seeking.

Other reasons included the ability to choose a favourite hotel room (12%) and a perception of greater customer service when booking directly. Lower down the list was the ease of making alterations  to a direct booking as opposed to those managed by a third party OTA (6%).

On the other hand, the research did reveal that booking using an OTA had benefits if your travel plans require several different elements such as flights, hotels, and car hire, which can all be easily bundled into a single package using an OTA’s website. 

Guests were far more likely to use OTA’s (66%) for this reason when travelling outside the UK.

Chris Cottam, head of Digital Operations at BestBookDirect.com, said: “We continue to see significant year on year growth in the UK based direct bookings market with several large hotel groups pivoting away from using OTAs over the past five years.

“For this strategy to be successful it is important that hoteliers have a well established and recognised brand backed by a significant initial advertising budget, ideally using a broad mix of channels including both media and affiliated travel websites to drive direct bookings.”

He added: “Based on the fact that the commission rates charged on bookings made on an OTA for hotels are commonly 15-25% of the room rate, it is quite clear that increasing direct bookings can free up considerable revenue. In the longer term, building up a loyal and repeat customer base continues to pay dividends with reduced promotion costs, thereby decreasing hoteliers overall CPOR (cost per occupied room).”