If you run a boutique hotel in Costa Adeje, a holiday apartment in Los Cristianos or a rural hotel in La Orotava, there's a number that probably stings every month: the commission OTAs are taking.
What OTAs actually charge in 2026
Public figures are optimistic. The reality for small hotels in Tenerife looks like this:
- Booking.com — 15% baseline, but "Preferred Partner" pushes you to 18%, and "Visibility Booster" adds another 5-10% per stay
- Expedia (incl. Hotels.com, Vrbo) — 18% to 25% depending on contract
- Airbnb — 14-16% from the host, plus the guest fee
- Agoda, Trip.com, HRS — 12-18% depending on market
For a small south-Tenerife hotel with 80% of bookings coming from OTAs and an ADR of €95, that's around €17 per night that doesn't hit your bank account. Multiply by 25 rooms × 280 nights × 80% OTA = nearly €95,000 a year in commissions.
Want your exact number? Run your own figures through the OTA commission calculator — 30 seconds, no email or signup.
The direct guest is worth more
It's not just the commission. A guest who books direct on your site:
- Hands you their email — you can market to them legally, announce your low-season offers, win repeat stays
- Spends more on extras — breakfast, parking, late check-out, airport transfer. Booking makes these hard to sell
- Cancels less — direct cancellation rate is 8-12%, vs 25-35% on Booking
- Reviews you directly — the review lands on Google, not on the platform
Why your current website doesn't convert
The guest opens Booking, finds your hotel, checks your website — and realises booking on your site is slower, more complex, or doesn't even show real-time pricing. They go back to Booking. You lose €17.
Hotel websites that actually convert share three traits:
- Booking engine above the fold — dates and price visible before any scroll
- Same availability and rate as Booking (or better — a "direct best price" guarantee)
- Instant confirmation — no "I'll get back to you in 24h", no long forms
How to recover direct without fighting OTAs
The mistake is thinking it's either/or. The reality: use Booking for new visibility, capture direct from guests who already know you. Three tactics that work in Tenerife:
- In-room card with a QR to your site offering 5% off the next stay if booked direct
- Post-stay email with a 10% code valid for 6 months
- Optimised Google Business profile with a "Book" button pointing to YOUR site, not Booking
The boutique hotels I work with typically go from 10-15% direct bookings to 25-35% within six months. Without touching the price.
Conclusion
OTAs are a visibility tool, not your main sales channel. Every Booking reservation you could have captured on your own site is €17 given away.
At Teide Digital I build hotel websites with integrated booking engines, synced to your PMS and channel manager. The investment pays itself back with the first 30-40 direct bookings. If you want to see how, let's talk, no commitment.
