OTA stands for "Online Travel Agency" and today plays a significant role in the
travel
industry.
They are online companies whose websites allow customers to book various travel-related
services such as accommodation and tours directly via the internet.
With the rise of the internet, many websites began selling rooms and services without the
need for human interaction. These sites very quickly gained important market share, and now
far more accommodation and travel bookings are made via these sites than directly with
accommodation or tour companies.
Some popular examples are Booking.com,
Expedia, Agoda and
Airbnb.
Why do travellers find these websites so useful?
- Easy comparison: Travellers can compare rates, reviews and availability of many differentaccommodation options at one glance
- Convenient booking: nd book them quickly and easily using the online reservation system.
Using OTA's is highly recommended to make your business more visible online, as it gives you a greater chance of reaching potential guests on a more global scale. OTA's invest a lot in online marketing which means they usually outrank any other searches made by travellers on search engines such as Google.
Rather than trying to compete with them, see them as another selling distribution channel to promote your business.
Of course, if you use a few OTA's simultaneously, they can produce rather time-consuming work if you need to log into each of their extranets or 'backends' to update daily availability and rates. The good news is that you can connect an OTA to a channel manager to automate, or at least greatly facilitate these tasks. (We'll learn more about this in an upcoming lesson.)
Which OTA to use
So what's the best OTA for your business? What's right for you really comes down to your objectives. For example Airbnb guests tend to expect hosts to be more sociable, whilst those coming through Booking.com and Expedia sometimes expect more hotel-like services, given that these platforms are mostly made up of hotels.If you want to make the most money out of your property, it might be good to list on as many OTAs as possible. Start with one and test it, then expand one by one, until you can see which works best for your property in your markets.
On the other hand, if you are risk-averse, list only on OTAs with good guest-vetting features such as Airbnb.
Which OTA you use also depends on your business type. Hotels, guesthouses and homestays will find all of the OTA's described in the following lessons suitable for listing, but if your business is a tour guide, tour operator or other service, then TripAdvisor and Airbnb are suitable.
Our next lessons will provide an overview of the most popular OTA's to consider for your business.
Terminology
Though each OTA will use slightly different terminology for a range of their offerings, they are usually fairly consistent with their traditional hospitality terms for the people involved in the transactions:- Host: This is you and your staff - the people responsible for welcoming the guest and taking responsibility for the hospitality and travel services being paid for.
- Guest: This is the customer/traveller/visitor/tourist paying for the travel and hospitality service.
Summary
- OTA's are Online Travel Agencies: online companies whose websites allow consumers to book various travel-related services such as accommodation and tours directly via the internet.
- Travellers find these websites useful as they can compare many accommodation options at one glance, and book them quickly and easily using the online reservation system.
- Your business can usually be listed on these sites for free, and you pay a commission per booking received.