Chapter 2: Direct bookings
47% of hospitality businesses in the UAE believe direct booking strategies will reshape the industry
Despite the continued dominance of Online Travel Agencies (OTAs), more guests are choosing to book directly with hotels and airlines. This shift lets hospitality businesses build stronger relationships and deliver personalized experiences. To fully capitalize on this trend, businesses need to be more successful at capturing, analyzing, and making decisions based on guest data.
Finding 01
Are businesses ready for direct bookings?
While OTAs remain the preferred booking channel overall, many guests like to book directly with the hotel or airline. Hospitality businesses recognize the opportunity. But their success will depend heavily on their access to centralized customer data, something most businesses struggle with.
Finding 02
Owning the payment process
Becoming the seller on record (or Merchant of Record) is the most effective way to centralize your payment data and control the flow of transactions. Hospitality businesses are clearly aware of the benefits, with over half already acting in this capacity and the remaining intending to do so. Becoming a Merchant of Record (MoR) will also allow you to simplify multichannel payment management and save resources.
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