The state of direct bookings: where it's heading
Platforms have managed for years to make themselves seem indispensable. That picture is starting to shift, and the change is not incidental but structural.
The state of play
Three movements are converging right now, and they all point the same direction.
The first is legal. The Digital Markets Act, in force since 2024, has designated Booking.com as a gatekeeper and banned broad parity clauses. In concrete terms: the platform can no longer contractually require you to charge the same or higher price on your own site. That rule already existed in theory, but the DMA formalized it and made it enforceable. What this means for you is explained in the DMA and what it means for your direct bookings.
The second is technological. AI search engines, ChatGPT and Perplexity leading the way, are becoming the starting point of orientation for more and more travelers. They ask questions like "where can I stay near the Veluwe with a sauna" and get a recommendation back, sometimes with a direct link to an accommodation site. No OTA in between. The question isn't whether this pattern grows, but how fast.
The third is financial. Commissions aren't going down. Booking.com's base commission in the Netherlands typically sits around 15 percent, but as soon as you join Genius discounts, the Preferred program, or the Visibility Booster, the effective percentage climbs to 20 to 25 percent. That range isn't a secret: you'll find it on your invoice. What many owners don't realize is how that adds up over a year. Booking.com commission calculated per night works through the math with your own numbers.
The main shifts in detail
End of parity as a psychological brake
The DMA didn't just draw a legal line. It also broke a habit. For years, the reflex at small-scale accommodations was: match the price to the platform, or risk your position. That reflex lives on, even now that the legal basis under it has fallen away.
The result: most B&Bs, small hotels, and glamping sites in the Netherlands have the freedom to be cheaper on their own site, but don't use that freedom. Meanwhile, there's also more room in the relationship between platforms themselves. What you offer one OTA, you don't automatically have to offer another. More on that distinction in being cheaper on your own site than on an OTA.
AI as the new travel advisor
The rise of AI search engines is changing how guests search. Not via a query with ten search results, but via a question that produces a direct recommendation. The models pull information from your own website, review platforms, social media, and news sources. If your site is thin, outdated, or unspecific, you fall outside the recommendation.
What this requires isn't an SEO trick but basic housekeeping: a well-filled own website with clear descriptions, current rates, visible contact details, and recent reviews. Accommodations that already invested in their own online presence come out ahead in AI recommendations, simply because there's more usable information available.
A separate article on how to make your accommodation findable via ChatGPT as a travel planner covers the practical side of this.
Commission pressure keeps climbing
Platforms only earn once they broker a booking. As more accommodations try to sell direct, platforms will deploy more instruments to keep themselves attractive to guests: discount programs, loyalty discounts, visibility tools. Those instruments get paid for by the increased commission you hand over.
The pattern isn't new, but it's accelerating. The logic is simple: the more dependent you are on the platform, the less room you have to negotiate. Whoever invests in their own booking channel now expands that room for later. The full approach to scaling that dependency back is in becoming less dependent on Booking.com.
| Shift | Direction | What it means for you |
|---|---|---|
| DMA parity ban | Permanently in effect | You're allowed to be cheaper on your own site |
| AI search engines as starting point | Growing | Direct links to your site, no OTA in between |
| Commission range 15-25% | Stable to rising | Every shifted booking delivers margin directly |
| Direct-booking tools | More choice, lower cost | Threshold for your own system keeps dropping |
What this means for you
The three shifts together add up to this: the cost of OTA dependency is rising, the alternatives are getting better and cheaper, and the legal room to differentiate is already there.
That doesn't mean you have to drop Booking.com tomorrow. The platform delivers reach, and for new guests that reach is valuable. The strategy isn't to exit but to shift: a growing share of your bookings through your own channel, so you're less exposed to commission increases and algorithmic changes on the platform.
The concrete steps aren't big. They're small and repeatable.
- Step 1: know your real commission. Not the base percentage, but the effective percentage on your latest invoice. Use the savings calculator for that. It shows what you're handing over now and what shifting 10 or 20 percent delivers per year.
- Step 2: make sure your own booking button works. A direct-booking advantage has no value if the guest can't book and pay directly on your own site. That's the foundation.
- Step 3: put a visible advantage in place. A small discount, more flexible cancellation, or a concrete welcome perk, right next to the booking button. Not in the footer, not in the fine print. At the moment of decision.
- Step 4: feed your own site. Descriptions, current photos, reviews, and answers to questions guests ask. Not just for search engines, but for the AI models that will soon say your name in a recommendation.
Want to go beyond these four steps, check the extended list in tactics for more direct bookings.
Small start, structural advantage
Shifting 20 percent of your bookings to direct sounds modest. At 60 bookings a month of 120 euros, that's 12 bookings where you save the commission. Over a year, at an effective rate of 20 percent, that adds up to more than 3,000 euros net. Every year again.
Where these loose pieces come together
The three shifts, the steps, and the worked examples connect, but they're spread across separate articles. If you lose the overview, start at the overview of direct bookings. It brings the whole route together: from calculating your commission to setting up your own booking button and making your site findable for AI.
What this means for you is that you don't have to tackle everything at once. Take first the step with the biggest payoff for the least effort. For most small accommodations that's the combination of knowing your real commission and getting a working booking button in place. Build the rest around that step by step, at your own pace, without having to drop Booking.com tomorrow.
Laying the foundation while it's still cheap
The accommodations that will be least dependent on platforms in three years aren't the big chains. Those are actually the slowest to move. It's the small hotels, B&Bs, and glamping sites that take their own booking channel seriously now, while the tools are affordable and the legal room is there.
The momentum is shifting. Not dramatically, not overnight, but structurally and irreversibly. Whoever lays their foundation now pays less commission, is less exposed to algorithmic whims, and is better positioned as AI search goes mainstream.
Where to start
Read the commission calculation tool first to establish your starting point, then check the DMA explainer for hoteliers for the legal room you already have. The savings calculator runs the numbers for your own figures.
Frequently asked questions
Why is momentum shifting toward direct bookings now?
How do AI search engines find my accommodation?
Is this relevant for a small B&B or glamping site?
Do I have to stop using Booking.com?
Where do I start if I want more direct bookings?
Do I have to tackle all steps at once?
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