Hotels are always looking to drive traffic to their hotel website for direct bookings, but once there, consumers need incentives to be convinced to forego an OTA discount. We surveyed thousands of consumers to find out what those are.

1. The Best Incentives for
Convincing Travelers to
Book Direct

2. An Effective Way to Drive Direct Bookings at Your Hotel
Hotels are grasping for any way to drive more direct booking traffic to their hotel
website to avoid the fees required by online travel agencies (OTAs) to be listed on
their websites. But what can hotels offer to convince potential customers to book
directly instead of choosing a discounted price from an OTA? We conducted a Google
Consumer Survey of more than 2,500 consumers to find out what incentives a hotel
could offer to forego a discounted price and book directly.
• A free room upgrade is the top incentive that will convince customers to book
directly;
• This room upgrade can be as simple as offering a balcony or better view;
• Free food and drinks (e.g. at on-site restaurant) are the second most effective
incentive.

3. Add-On Preference by Type
11%
14%
3%
48%
Room upgrade
Room service
On-site amenities (e.g. spa)
Gift cards
Other
23%
The majority of respondents (48 percent) say that a room upgrade offer could
convince them to book directly over booking with a discount online travel agency.

4. Room Upgrade Preference by Type
2%
20%
29%
Suite with living room
Better view
Balcony
Kitchenette
Other
22%
27%
The kind of room upgrade that could convince a consumer to book directly is split
among a living room suite, a better view, a balcony room or a room with a kitchen.

5. Room Service Preference by Type
3%
16%
43%
19%
Free meal
In-room massage
Minibar/snacks
Movies on demand
Other
19%
Free meals are clearly the most effective room service incentives to convince a
consumer to book directly, with 43 percent of the responses.

6. Amenity Preference by Type
7%
4%
11%
55%
23%
Food/drinks at hotel
Spa package
Fitness class
Golf/tennis reservation
Other
Again, for amenities, respondents say that free food and drinks are incentives that
could convince them to skip the OTA and book directly.

7. Gift Card Preference by Type
11%
4%
45%
19%
Popular restaurant
Popular event
Amusement/water park
Transportation service
Other
22%
A gift card to a popular restaurant was voted as a motivating incentive to book directly
on a hotel website. A gift card to a popular event came in a distant second.

8. Gift Card Preference By Percentage of Each Age Group
18-24
25-34
35-44
45-54
55-64
65+
0
20
40
Restaurant gift cards
Amusement/waterpark gift card
Other
60
80
100
Popular event gift card
Transportation gift card
Older age groups chose restaurant gift cards as strong incentives to book directly,
while younger groups preferred event and amusement park gift cards.

9. Read Report
Read about our findings in more detail.
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