Hotels Battle Secondary OTAs Over Price Parity

Secondary online travel agencies are multiplying and slashing room rates, leaving many hotels scrambling to defend pricing power and guest relationships. While giants such as Expedia and Booking.com still dominate distribution, a swelling roster of smaller OTAs and affiliate sites is eroding rate parity by advertising prices below a hotel’s own website or even undercutting major-OTA listings. Independent, upscale properties in competitive cities feel the pressure most because they lack the marketing muscle of global chains and rely on wholesalers or bed banks for inventory. Those wholesale rates increasingly surface on obscure sites, often without the hotel’s knowledge.

A May 2025 World Parity Report by 123Compare.me found that independent hotels face the greatest price aggressiveness from non-major OTAs when their rates sit above the market average. SHR Group’s vice president of digital marketing, Steve Collins, said some properties lean on OTAs because managing direct sales demands constant effort, but doing so opens the door to rate leakage. Joe Pettigrew, group chief commercial officer at L+R Hotels, added that certain major OTAs redistribute rates to smaller outlets, forcing hotels to police partners they once trusted. Unauthorized inventory flow accelerates as affiliate marketers spin up travel blogs and comparison pages to earn commissions on every redirected booking.

Hoteliers pay for this leakage on multiple fronts. SHR’s January Digital Strategy Secrets report shows hotels allowing OTAs to underprice them spend nearly 50 percent more on pay-per-click campaigns. Member-exclusive prices on leading platforms deepen the gap: Expedia’s One Key loyalty program, for instance, frequently advertises rates below a hotel’s best available rate, undermining direct channels. Booking.com defends its discounted offers by covering the difference so partners still earn their listed price, yet travelers rarely realize the distinction.

Industry veterans see solutions in a two-pronged strategy of strengthening direct sales and tightening control over B2B partners. Pettigrew urges hotels to cultivate corporate accounts, travel management companies, and destination management firms that value stable contracts over lowest-price wins. Revenue consultant Mohamed Al Kaddouri advises committing 5 to 7 percent of revenue to digital marketing, CRM, and exclusive perks, noting that one 80-room independent hotel boosted net RevPAR 12 percent after shifting just 10 percent of OTA bookings to direct over six months. Collins recommends matching or beating OTA deals with superior member or advance-purchase rates and actively highlighting value adds like flexible cancellation, upgrades, or loyalty points.

Technology entrepreneurs are entering the fray. Brian Reeves, founder of Avvio, launched Roomangel to neutralize “brand jacking” and mirror-marketing tactics by offering fair, commission-free searches that route travelers straight to hotel booking engines. Still, experts caution that reputation remains the first line of defense: exceptional service and consistently high guest reviews on Tripadvisor, Google, and OTA pages raise confidence and let hotels command parity or premium rates without losing visibility.

For Resident Hotels, which secures about half of bookings directly, OTAs are still “a window to the world,” CEO David Orr said, but collaboration must stay “mutually respectful.” As non-major OTAs continue to sprout, hotels that invest in transparent pricing, robust direct channels, and vigilant partner management stand the best chance of throttling rate erosion while preserving vital global exposure.

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Hotels Battle Secondary OTAs Over Price Parity

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