Plan Around Cost, Not Spend

Autumn is when most hotels set next year's numbers, and it is where a lot of quiet money is won or lost. The common mistake is to budget by input: last year we spent this on marketing, so add a little and repeat. The better question is what each channel costs you to acquire a booking, because that is the only figure that tells you where the next euro should go.

Cost per acquisition, your total cost to win one booking expressed as a share of the revenue it produces, is the number that lets you compare an OTA commission against a direct campaign on the same terms. A well run direct programme should sit comfortably below the roughly 13 per cent that a blended OTA dependent model tends to cost once commission is counted in full.

Start From Your Real Channel Mix

Before you allocate a single euro, write down where last year's business actually came from and what each stream cost you.

| Channel | Typical cost to acquire | What the budget controls | |---|---|---| | OTA | 15 to 25 per cent commission | Almost nothing, it is a toll | | Direct, brand demand | Low single digit per cent | Website, booking engine, retention | | Direct, paid acquisition | Managed to a target | Metasearch, search and social spend |

Most independents are surprised by how much of their so called marketing budget is really just OTA commission they never chose to spend. Reframing that commission as an acquisition cost, rather than an unavoidable fee, is the first move of a serious plan.

Fund the Three Things That Lower Acquisition Cost

Retention before acquisition

The cheapest booking is the one from a guest you already have. A modest, consistent budget for a clean email programme and returning guest offers lowers your average acquisition cost across the whole year, because repeat direct business dilutes the expensive first time channels.

Measured paid acquisition

Metasearch and paid search work when they are managed to a cost target and switched off when they are not. Budget them as a controllable line with a ceiling, not an open tap. Money poured into unmanaged campaigns is exactly how spend disappears, a pattern we traced in why most hotel metasearch campaigns quietly lose money.

The foundation that makes both cheaper

A fast, high converting website and booking engine reduce the cost of every channel at once, because more of the traffic you already pay for turns into a booking. This is the least glamorous line in the budget and usually the highest returning.

Give the Plan a Number to Beat

A budget without a target is a wish list. Set one clear goal for 2027, such as moving direct share up by a defined number of points or holding blended acquisition cost under a chosen ceiling, and review it monthly against real data rather than at year end. Decisions made against live performance data, using a tool like Bookassist Intelligence, are what separate a budget that adapts from one that is filed and forgotten.

Measure Before You Allocate

The most useful hour in your planning season is not spent in a spreadsheet. Run the free Direct Booking Health Score audit on your property first. It shows you which part of your direct funnel is weakest right now, which tells you where next year's budget will earn the most. Build the plan around the gap, not around last year's habits.

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