OTA dependency — the true cost, and how to reduce it.

The headline OTA commission of 15–18% understates the true cost of OTA dependency by roughly half. Add preferred programme fees, rate parity displacement, branded metasearch competitive bidding, and the strategic cost of not owning the guest relationship — and the true cost approaches 28–35% of room revenue from the OTA channel. These fifty resources give hotel commercial directors the analytical framework, the platform-by-platform detail, and the commercial case to reduce OTA dependency systematically over 12–24 months.