What you are actually buying from the platform
Platforms sell visibility: they show your property to people who would not otherwise find it, and they carry the reservation through to the end. They withhold a commission for this. Its size depends on your contract with the particular platform, which is why this article has no percentages and no calculation of an amount. If you want to know what you pay, open your contract and your latest invoices.
The commission is not good or bad in itself. It is the price of a service: access to guests you have no route to on your own. The question is whether, for every guest, you are paying for visibility that you really needed.
Which guests are yours
Some of the guests come to you, not to the platform:
- returning guests who already know where they stayed;
- guests on the recommendation of a friend or acquaintance;
- people who find you on Google and see your property;
- people who find you on your Facebook page.
For them, the platform is often just a convenient channel for payment and confirmation. If they have an easy way to get in touch directly, some of them will use it. If they do not, they will go through the platform, because it is the only place they know.
This is the role of your own website: to be a place where these guests see the rooms, the terms and a way to ask. For more on the subject, see the glossary entries on direct reservation and on the booking engine.
A direct enquiry is not a reservation
When a guest writes through your website, it is an enquiry. It does not take a room and nothing has been agreed. There is a reservation when you reply, settle the dates and terms and confirm. That is why the direct channel requires a quick reply from you. A late reply means the guest will open the platform and book there.
If you want to organise the process itself, see the guide to direct enquiries in a guest house.
How to track where reservations come from
The decision "how much to rely on platforms" should be based on data, not on a feeling. A simple table or note is enough. For every reservation, record:
- the date of the reservation and the dates of the stay;
- the source: platform (which one), direct enquiry from the website, phone, recommendation, returning guest;
- if the guest mentioned how they found you, record that too;
- whether it came through an enquiry and how long the reply took.
After two or three seasons you will see which channels bring you guests, how many of them are returning and how many direct enquiries reach a confirmed reservation. Then the decision is yours and it is well founded.
What you should not do
- Do not turn against the platform. It is one of your channels, not an obstacle; ending the relationship without data can cost you guests you have no way to replace.
- Do not promise guests a "lower price direct" before you have read your terms. Some platforms have rules about the prices you show elsewhere. What applies to you is written in your contract — check it.
- Do not expect the website to replace the platform overnight. It is an additional route that is built up gradually.
- Do not leave enquiries unanswered. This is the most common reason why the direct channel does not work.
Where ISKA Website fits
ISKA Website is a website for the property: it shows the rooms with photos, the services, the gallery and the offers, and it has an enquiry form. It is offered by quote. On its own it is not an online reservation system, it does not accept payment and it does not promise reservations. Booking and the other platforms remain your channel; the website adds to them a place where your guests can ask you directly.