Hotels & Tourism
Direct acquisition measured destination by destination, season by season.
Sandbox builds a direct acquisition system reconciled with the PMS: every reservation is tracked from click to stay, broken down by destination, period, and channel. Bidding adjusts dynamically based on seasonality and occupancy rate. CAND (Direct Night Acquisition Cost) is permanently compared to OTA commission to guide budget allocation.
Direct versus OTA: the four issues that decide your profitability
The acquisition cost of a direct stay must be measured and compared to the OTA commission. When CAND is below 15% of the average rate, direct is more profitable than Booking — but you need to prove it, with data, reservation by reservation.
RevPAR is the health indicator of a hotel. The marketing challenge is to increase RevPAR via the channel mix: shifting reservations from OTAs (net rates) to direct (gross rates) and targeting high-spending segments.
The share of direct reservations is the strategic KPI. Every percentage point gained on direct represents a direct saving on commissions. The objective: moving from 20-30% direct (market average) to 40-50% through targeted media investment.
The permanent comparison between direct acquisition cost and OTA commission is the compass of hotel media planning. As long as CAND stays below the commission, every dirham invested in direct acquisition generates a positive net return.
Four metrics that drive direct acquisition
Six disciplines integrated across hotel direct acquisition
PMS-campaign reconciliation
Connecting campaign data (all platforms, programmatic) to the PMS (Opera, Mews, Cloudbeds) to attribute each direct booking to a campaign, keyword, and segment. Daily automated reconciliation.
Dynamic bidding by season and occupancy
Bids automatically adjusted based on occupancy rate, seasonality, and local events. Low season or low occupancy: investment increases. Saturated high season: spend is reduced to maximize ROI. Budget follows revenue management logic.
Direct cost vs OTA commission benchmark
Monthly benchmark comparing CAND per direct channel to the effective OTA commission rate. Dashboard readable by GMs and Revenue Managers to see at a glance if the shift to direct is progressing. Each direct booking saves the commission.
Competitive rate and media monitoring
Continuous monitoring of competitor hotel campaigns and OTA pricing. Rate parity alerts. Competitor promotion tracking. Intelligence on which destinations and segments competitors are targeting.
Creative production by destination and season
Each destination or property has its own visual identity. Seasonal creative adaptation (summer, Ramadan, year-end, events). Multi-market production for source markets (France, UK, Gulf, domestic). Performance A/B testing on creative angles.
Automated pre- and post-stay sequences
Pre-stay sequences: booking confirmation, room upgrade upsell, activity suggestions. Post-stay: review request, loyalty program, retargeting for the next booking. Each sequence is measured for its contribution to conversion.
Frequently asked questions
How do you increase direct bookings versus OTAs?
By combining three levers: a media strategy focused on qualified audiences (not those already captured by OTAs), a conversion-optimized booking engine, and defensive brand SEA campaigns to prevent OTAs from buying your name without financial return.
Do you pilot yield and occupancy in real time?
Yes, in partnership with your revenue management team. We connect the PMS (Opera, Protel, etc.) to media campaigns to adjust advertising pressure according to forecasted occupancy: scaling when needed, saving when the hotel is already full.
Do you work with independent hotels or chains?
Both. For independents, we act as an outsourced marketing department with a performance focus. For chains, we complement corporate campaigns — often on specific properties that need finer local handling.
Do you manage multilingual and multi-market campaigns?
Yes. Campaigns run in FR, EN, AR, DE, ES depending on the property's source markets (Europe, GCC, Africa). Creatives and landing pages are adapted to the target market: a Marrakech hotel speaks differently to French, Saudi or German audiences.
Explore our other sector expertise
Regain control of your direct reservations
A benchmark of your current CAND versus your OTA commissions — to quantify what direct can earn you.
Discuss your hotel project