Knowledge
Good decisions start with the right questions. Here we collect the topics that genuinely matter to hotels in practice — from the basics to the system question. Answered concisely, with deeper insights for those who want to go further.
Independent hotels face the same fundamental challenge as large hotel chains: offering the right rates at the right time to the right guests.
The goal is to maximize revenue by accounting for factors such as demand, seasonal fluctuations, and the competitive landscape.
By applying revenue management principles, small and independently run hotels can optimize their pricing strategy, increase occupancy, and improve revenue per available room (RevPAR).
This goes beyond rate adjustments — it's about strategic occupancy planning that extracts maximum value from every booking.
For independent hotels, this means staying competitive through smart, data-driven decisions, without needing the resources of a large hotel group.
Many hoteliers count the OTA commission as the only cost factor —
but it's just the starting point.
On Booking.com or Expedia, commission rates range from 13 to 25 percent depending on the market. Add credit card fees of 1.5 to 3 percent, channel manager costs, and the staff time required for ongoing data maintenance.
When all costs are factored in, an OTA booking can easily account for 20 to 35 percent of the room rate in real terms.
A direct booking through the hotel's own website costs significantly less by comparison: fees for the internet booking engine — which is already included at no extra cost in many PMS systems — payment processing, and potentially some marketing budget and staff time.
Combined, the total often stays below 15 percent. Even when the direct guest is incentivized with a small benefit or a slightly lower rate, the net result is considerably more profitable.
Anyone who wants to genuinely compare channels doesn't need a revenue view — they need a net view per booking source. Only then does it become clear which channel is truly profitable.
Outsourcing makes sense when internal expertise is missing or still being built, when the team doesn't have the capacity during a transitional phase, or when seasonal peaks need to be covered without permanently increasing fixed costs.
But even properties that already have a revenue manager can benefit from external support — for example when setting up new systems, developing strategy, or simply having a sparring partner at eye level.
One thing is essential: external service providers shouldn't just advise — they should take on operational responsibility and deliver measurable results.
It depends on the size of the operation, the existing system landscape, and budget — but above all on integrations.
A PMS that doesn't communicate cleanly via a two-way connection with the channel manager, booking engine, and revenue management system quickly becomes a bottleneck.
The decisive question therefore isn't just "Which system has the best features?" — it's "How does it work together with everything else?"
Independent system consulting helps define the right stack before committing to a solution for years. At THC, we work with a requirements framework of over 500 questions that systematically captures the needs of a property and puts PMS selection on a well-founded, objective basis.
A channel manager connects a hotel's property management system with all booking channels — OTAs, metasearch engines, and the direct booking engine — synchronizing availability and rates in real time.
Without a channel manager, updates have to be maintained manually in every channel, creating the risk of errors and overbookings.
A well-configured channel manager is the foundation of any functioning distribution strategy.
Knowledge
Good decisions start with the right questions. Here we collect the topics that genuinely matter to hotels in practice — from the basics to the system question. Answered concisely, with deeper insights for those who want to go further.
Independent hotels face the same fundamental challenge as large hotel chains: offering the right rates at the right time to the right guests. The goal is to maximize revenue by accounting for factors such as demand, seasonal fluctuations, and the competitive landscape.
By applying revenue management principles, small and independently run hotels can optimize their pricing strategy, increase occupancy, and improve revenue per available room (RevPAR).
This goes beyond rate adjustments — it's about strategic occupancy planning that extracts maximum value from every booking.
For independent hotels, this means staying competitive through smart, data-driven decisions, without needing the resources of a large hotel group.
Many hoteliers count the OTA commission as the only cost factor —
but it's just the starting point.
On Booking.com or Expedia, commission rates range from 13 to 25 percent depending on the market. Add credit card fees of 1.5 to 3 percent, channel manager costs, and the staff time required for ongoing data maintenance.
When all costs are factored in, an OTA booking can easily account for 20 to 35 percent of the room rate in real terms.
A direct booking through the hotel's own website costs significantly less by comparison: fees for the internet booking engine — which is already included at no extra cost in many PMS systems — payment processing, and potentially some marketing budget and staff time.
Combined, the total often stays below 15 percent. Even when the direct guest is incentivized with a small benefit or a slightly lower rate, the net result is considerably more profitable.
​Anyone who wants to genuinely compare channels doesn't need a revenue view — they need a net view per booking source. Only then does it become clear which channel is truly profitable.
Outsourcing makes sense when internal expertise is missing or still being built, when the team doesn't have the capacity during a transitional phase, or when seasonal peaks need to be covered without permanently increasing fixed costs.
But even properties that already have a revenue manager can benefit from external support — for example when setting up new systems, developing strategy, or simply having a sparring partner at eye level.
​One thing is essential: external service providers shouldn't just advise — they should take on operational responsibility and deliver measurable results.
It depends on the size of the operation, the existing system landscape, and budget — but above all on integrations.
A PMS that doesn't communicate cleanly via a two-way connection with the channel manager, booking engine, and revenue management system quickly becomes a bottleneck.
The decisive question therefore isn't just "Which system has the best features?" — it's "How does it work together with everything else?"
Independent system consulting helps define the right stack before committing to a solution for years. At THC, we work with a requirements framework of over 500 questions that systematically captures the needs of a property and puts PMS selection on a well-founded, objective basis.
A channel manager connects a hotel's property management system with all booking channels — OTAs, metasearch engines, and the direct booking engine — synchronizing availability and rates in real time.
Without a channel manager, updates have to be maintained manually in every channel, creating the risk of errors and overbookings. ​
A well-configured channel manager is the foundation of any functioning distribution strategy.
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