What Is a Direct Booking? Direct Booking Share for Hotels Explained

Direct bookings reach the hotel without a platform. What counts, how the share is calculated and why it is falling.

By Michael Külbel 3 min read

Graphic: the share of direct hotel bookings in Germany fell from 67.3 to 59.7 per cent, while the platforms’ share rose from 20.6 to 31.9 per cent
Booking channels in Germany according to the HOTREC European hotel distribution study, 2013 and 2025. Graphic: eingecheckt.de
Key points
  • A direct booking reaches the hotel without an intermediary: via its own website, by phone, by email or at reception.
  • The direct booking share shows what proportion of all bookings comes direct. According to the European hotel distribution study, it was 59.7 per cent in Germany in 2025.
  • Within twelve years, the direct share fell from 67.3 to 59.7 per cent, while the share of booking platforms rose from 20.6 to 31.9 per cent.
  • Now that hotels may be cheaper on their own website than on Booking.com, they have more room to win direct bookings.

Few terms come up as often in conversations about hotel distribution as the direct booking. It simply means that the guest books with the hotel itself rather than through an intermediary. This glossary entry explains what counts, how the share is measured and why it matters to so many hoteliers.

What counts as a direct booking

Any booking made without an intermediary is direct: via the booking engine on the hotel website, by phone, by email or contact form, and at reception. Bookings via platforms such as Booking.com or Expedia, travel agencies, tour operators or wholesalers do not count.

According to the European Hotel Distribution Study, 13.9 per cent of all hotel bookings in Germany in 2025 were made in real time via the hotel’s own website and 18.1 per cent by phone.¹ The study by the European hospitality association HOTREC and the university of applied sciences HES-SO Valais-Wallis is based on data from 2,713 hotels.²

How the direct booking share is calculated

The direct booking share is the proportion of direct bookings among all bookings in a given period. An example: a hotel has 2,000 bookings a year, 1,200 of which came direct. The share is 1,200 divided by 2,000, or 60 per cent.

The figure becomes more meaningful if it is also calculated by room nights or revenue. A three-night booking then carries more weight than a one-night stay. Above all, the figure should be calculated the same way every year so that changes become visible.

How the share has developed

In Germany, 59.7 per cent of hotel bookings came direct in 2025, compared with 51.3 per cent across Europe.² In the long run, the direct share is falling: in Germany it dropped from 67.3 to 59.7 per cent according to the study, while the share of booking platforms rose from 20.6 to 31.9 per cent within twelve years.¹

Within direct bookings, the weight is shifting. Real-time bookings via the hotel’s own website have more than doubled over the long term, from 6.1 to 13.9 per cent. Phone bookings fell from 27.7 to 18.1 per cent.¹

Why hotels focus on direct bookings

Costs: the hotel pays no commission to a platform for a direct booking.

Cancellations: across Europe, the cancellation rate for direct bookings via the hotel’s own website was 9.1 per cent, compared with 19.0 per cent at Booking.com.²

Contact with the guest: the hotel holds the guest’s details itself and can get in touch before arrival and after the stay.

Pricing freedom: since 14 November 2024, Booking.com may no longer impose parity clauses on hotels in the European Economic Area. Hotels may offer better rates or conditions on their own website.³

How hotels can increase their direct share

Checklist: more direct bookings
  1. Make booking easy: A booking engine on the website that works on a smartphone in just a few steps.
  2. Show the benefits: What does the guest gain by booking direct? More flexible cancellation, breakfast or a better room, clearly visible.
  3. Be reachable: Answer phone and email enquiries quickly. Guests who wait too long book elsewhere.
  4. Talk to returning guests: Anyone who has stayed before can book direct next time. A note at check-out or in the message after departure helps.
  5. Measure the share: Calculate the direct booking share the same way at regular intervals and track how it develops.

More in the magazine

How one hotel rewards direct bookers with more flexible cancellation terms is shown in our article "Last-minute guests, fixed schedules" about the ANDERS Hotel Walsrode. The software that brings all bookings together is explained in the glossary entry "What Is a Hotel PMS?".

Sources

This glossary entry is based on the following sources:

  1. HOGAPAGE (2026)
    Hotrec-Studie: Zwei Plattformkonzerne dominieren den OTA-Markt
    Trade article, 16 September 2026. Long-term development of booking channels in Germany, bookings via hotel websites and by phone, undercutting by platforms. Original publication in German.
  2. Tageskarte (2026)
    Hotelvertrieb – 70,5 Prozent der deutschen OTA-Buchungen laufen über Booking Holdings
    Trade article, 15 September 2026. Results of the European Hotel Distribution Study 2026 by HOTREC and HES-SO Valais-Wallis (2,713 hotels, reference year 2025): booking channels in Europe and Germany, cancellation rates. Original publication in German.
  3. European Commission (2026)
    How the DMA ensures businesses using Booking.com are free to set their prices on and off Booking.com
    Factsheet, 28 September 2026. Ban on parity clauses for Booking.com under the Digital Markets Act, hotels free to set prices in the European Economic Area.
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