For short-term rental businesses, it’s never been easier to list a property or riskier to rely on a single source for bookings. While major platforms like Airbnb and Booking.com remain central to the ecosystem, the most resilient rental operators in 2025 are shifting how they think about growth. They’re no longer asking, “How do I get more bookings?” but rather, “Where are my bookings coming from and what happens if that stops?”
Diversification isn’t a buzzword. It’s a stability strategy.
There’s no question that online travel agencies (OTAs) provide reach. They bring traffic, bookings, and a familiar guest journey. But businesses that rely on one or two platforms for 70–90% of their income are vulnerable — not just to competition, but to the rules of platforms they don’t control.
This isn’t a hypothetical risk. In the last 12 months alone, hosts across Europe and North America have seen listings buried by unexplained algorithm changes, fees quietly increased, and in some cases, entire accounts suspended without notice. If your calendar is filled by one platform, your revenue is at the mercy of that platform’s decisions.
The issue isn’t that OTAs are bad — it’s that too much dependence on them turns your business into someone else’s.
You can run the numbers for yourself using our OTA commission calculator.
Diversification doesn’t mean abandoning platforms. Most of your visibility will still come from OTAs especially early on. But a more stable business doesn’t put all its bookings in one basket. It builds in options.
A healthy distribution might involve a mix of OTAs, direct bookings through your own website, and supplementary channels like paid ads or niche listing platforms. The percentages vary depending on your location, audience, and property type but the goal remains the same: protect your income by spreading your exposure.
If OTAs are responsible for 100% of your bookings, your margin is limited by their commission. If just 20–30% of those bookings come direct, your profit per stay improves significantly and your customer relationship is yours to keep.
We’ve explored the value of direct bookings more deeply in Why More Holiday Rentals Are Investing in Direct Bookings.
Commission loss is the most obvious reason to diversify and it’s a compelling one. A business generating €200,000 in bookings each month could easily be losing €30,000–€40,000 in commission fees alone.
But the bigger long-term gain is ownership.
Direct bookings give you access to guest data. That means you can follow up, run promotions, segment your past guests, and even advertise directly to people who already know your brand. You’re no longer dependent on a platform to decide who sees your listing or when. You can build loyalty, create repeat stays, and actually grow your brand over time, not just your listing.
That kind of freedom is difficult to achieve through OTA channels alone. Their job is to serve the guest, not the host.
You don’t need a complex CRM, huge ad budget, or full-scale funnel to begin shifting your strategy. In fact, the best place to start is by identifying where your current bookings are coming from and where the risk lies.
From there, even a few small steps can make a difference:
• A landing page or booking form that encourages direct reservations
• Retargeting ads that re-engage past visitors who didn’t book
• A simple welcome email that builds a list from current guests
These aren’t advanced strategies they’re practical foundations. And once they’re in place, you can expand: stronger branding, cross-channel promotion, and strategic use of paid traffic to reach new guests without paying for every click.
When all your bookings run through someone else’s system, you’re not really running your own. Diversifying doesn’t just improve your margins, it gives you leverage. You get to make decisions based on your business goals, not someone else’s algorithm.
Whether you manage a single property or a portfolio across multiple regions, now is the time to invest in ownership. That starts by diversifying where your bookings come from — before you’re forced to do it by a change you didn’t see coming.
2025 will reward the owners who take that step early. You don’t need to be perfect you just need to start moving in the right direction. The industry is already shifting: hotel operators are aiming for direct bookings to make up more than 50% of their revenue mix by 2030, driven by the need for more control over inventory, margins, and guest relationships (Mews, 2025; Hotel Technology News, 2025).
Starting now even with small steps positions you ahead of the curve. This shift isn’t just a trend; it’s a strategic move toward long-term resilience and profitability.
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