Are More OTA Connections Still Worth It in 2026?
Yes. More OTA connections can still help hotels reach more travellers, provided rates, inventory and reservations are managed from one connected system. For growing hotel groups, the opportunity is no longer simply to appear on more booking sites. It is to gain wider reach without creating more manual work at every property.
SiteMinder’s 2026 traveller research found that 26% of travellers now start their hotel research on an OTA, ahead of search engines at 21%. That makes OTA visibility an important part of the discovery journey even when the final booking happens elsewhere.
As a hotel adds properties, this becomes a bigger management question. A suitable hotel management software for hotel chain operations can connect distribution with reservations, rates, inventory and group-level reporting, so expansion does not create separate processes at every hotel.
OTAs are Online Travel Agencies or agents who are in the business of connecting hotels and travelers. Currently, there are many large OTA connections that hotels work with, including Expedia, Booking, and Travelocity. The obvious reason why you should look to establish as many OTA connections as possible is that they bring in more travelers to your hotel.
However, there is a far large number of benefits that they bring to hotels, especially those smaller and medium-sized organizations that don’t have a worldwide presence. Many people claim that OTAs make hotels dependent on them, but this is not the case.
It’s important to use OTAs as another tool that will help you build your hotel and not focus all your efforts on them. With that said, let’s see 5 of the biggest reasons why you should use online travel agencies.
1. You will Improve Your Visibility
Independent hotels have a hard time getting lots of guests directly through their websites. Simply put, most hotels cannot afford to rank their websites really high in browser searches to get the direct organic traffic that they need.
At the same time, a very small portion of hotel guests has a habit of searching for hotels by their name and looking at their sites.
In most cases, people rely on large online travel agencies that they trust, and they filter their searches through these agencies’ platforms. This is how more people will learn about your hotel and what options you have available.
2. They Help Build a Reputation
OTAs usually have a rating and review system in place so that travelers can share their experiences with a certain establishment and offer recommendations to other travelers. Getting better reviews and ratings can help spread the word about your establishment, both online and as word of mouth.
You want to look for an OTA with plenty of user reviews for most hotels on offer, as this means that there are a lot of interested clients lurking on the site. However, you should also look at what the people have to say about the platform itself, and find an OTA that travelers have deemed to be reliable and efficient.
3. They Can Help You Increase The Number of Website Visitors
More than half of the travelers who first visit OTAs first visit the official website of the hotel they have been looking at. The process is simple for most travelers – they go to an OTA, filter out the potential hotels, resorts, or motels they like, and then check out their websites one by one.
This means that each OTA connection increases the chances of someone visiting your site. What’s even better is that they have a real interest in what your site and hotel have to offer. This will improve your site’s SEO and help increase the number of guests coming to your hotel.
4. You Will Get More Guests Overall
In some industries, having a website is the first sign of trust and professionalism. However, in the hospitality industry people trust OTAs more than hotel websites. For most hotels, this is just a harsh reality and only some high-end brands enjoy such a large amount of trust with travelers.
This is why OTAs work perfectly for smaller independent hotels. Travelers are open to the idea of booking a hotel through an OTA rather than trying it out directly on a website of a hotel that they haven’t heard of or been to.
5. You will Attract the Right Guests
No matter what kind of property you are running, a hotel, hostel, resort, or service apartments, you need to attract the right customers that will be happy with the services you can provide. You need to emphasize your strengths and represent yourself to travelers in the right way.
Having your property showcased on many online travel agencies and adjusting the descriptions will help get the right customers that will really enjoy their stay with you. The more guests like these you have, the easier it will be to build a loyal community around your brand.
Managing Multiple OTA Connections
One of the things that scares a lot of hotel managers and hoteliers are that they have to manage such a large number of OTAs. However, with a quality hotel booking channel manager software, all these connections can be managed easily. A hotel channel manager allows easy updates of inventory and room rates to OTA connections.
At the same time, a hotel channel management system helps you manage reservations and ensure that there is no under-booking or overbooking. Find a professional hotel distribution system and not only will it help you with these processes but also with many others.
Online travel agencies are the entry pass hotels need to get into the market and find their customers. They will give you the opportunity to prove your worth, but you need to manage your hotel properly, offer great services, accommodation, and excellent customer experience if you really want to step your game up.
Why More OTA Connections Need Better Control as Your Hotel Group Grows
Connecting to additional OTAs can create more opportunities to be discovered, but the benefit is reduced if every property has to update rates, restrictions and inventory separately. A growing chain may also have different room types, demand patterns and pricing strategies across locations.
This is where hotel booking channel manager software becomes useful. Instead of treating each OTA as an isolated sales channel, hotels can manage distribution from a central point and push changes across connected channels. The aim is not to be present everywhere without a plan. It is to make the right inventory available through the right channels while maintaining control.
OTA Visibility Can Also Support Direct Booking
A traveller discovering a hotel on an OTA does not necessarily mean the booking will stay with the OTA. SiteMinder’s Changing Traveller Report 2026, based on almost 12,000 travellers across 14 countries, found that 18% of travellers who start researching on an OTA ultimately book directly with the hotel, up 3.3 percentage points year on year.
This makes OTA presence and direct booking less of an either-or decision. OTAs can create reach, while the hotel website, booking engine, offers and guest experience can help convert part of that interest directly.
For a growing hotel chain, the important part is keeping these channels connected. mycloud PMS combines cloud PMS, central reservations, distribution, a booking engine, centralized rate management, chain-wide reporting and shared guest information. It also supports 200+ third-party interfaces and an open API, helping hotel groups add properties while maintaining a common operating structure.
The role of hotel booking channel manager software therefore goes beyond updating room availability. When it works as part of the wider hotel technology ecosystem, it can help a growing group manage distribution without losing visibility or consistency as the portfolio expands.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Should a hotel connect to as many OTAs as possible?
Not automatically. Choose channels that match your markets, guest segments and destinations, then review booking production and cost regularly.
2. Can OTAs help hotels generate direct bookings?
Yes. Travellers may discover a property on an OTA and later visit the hotel website before deciding where to book.
3. Why is OTA management harder for hotel chains?
More properties mean more rates, room types, restrictions and inventory. Without centralization, workload and the risk of inconsistent information can increase.
4. What should hotel chains look for in a channel-management setup?
Look for real-time inventory and rate synchronization, reservation integration, multi-property support, booking-engine connectivity, reporting and reliable integrations.
5. Can mycloud PMS support growing hotel chains?
mycloud PMS supports multi-property operations with central reservations, centralized rates, guest profiles, reporting, distribution tools, 200+ interfaces and an open API.
6. How can a hotel group evaluate mycloud PMS?
Book a mycloud PMS demo. See how your properties can manage reservations, distribution, guest information and chain-wide operations from a connected cloud platform, and discuss how it can support your next stage of growth.
About The Author
Deepak Chauhan
Deepak Chauhan is responsible for marketing and positioning of “mycloud” platform and is a veteran in the hotel software industry with over 25 years’ experience giving him a strong understanding of the product requirements in the industry. He has very rare mix of working in operations of various hotels and chains for over 10 years and then co-founding a software product and service company, servicing 5 star hotels and chains for 14 years.
Deepak has led the development and marketing of cloud based hospitality systems to meet the specific, business objectives of small and mid-size properties across the globe and has worked closely with a diverse group of hoteliers and hotel technology vendors.
