Someone managing five properties just gave you distribution advice.
Should you take it?
Five properties are easy to fill. You don’t need a sophisticated strategy. You probably don’t even need a real marketing budget.
But when you’re managing 100 properties? That same advice will sink you.
I’ve spent 30 years across property management, OTAs, and channel management. I’ve watched managers chase what they call the “holy grail” of direct-only bookings while their occupancy rates tell a brutally different story.
Here’s what they miss.
Success isn’t measured by your booking source. It’s measured by occupancy and revenue.
Most markets have demand 365 days a year. That demand flows from multiple sources. When you fixate on “book direct only,” you’re leaving money on the table. The goal isn’t purity. It’s capturing 100% of available demand, period.
The False Comparison Problem
Small operators love to brag about crushing it with direct bookings.
Dig deeper and you’ll find their “direct” platform is actually Airbnb. Or they’re filling mid-stay properties with contracted corporate housing from a local college or hospital.
That’s not a replicable strategy for someone with a larger portfolio. It’s smoke and mirrors.
Want to know the real cost of driving direct bookings at scale?
Professional web design: $5,000 to $20,000. SEO: an ongoing investment with no guaranteed returns. Email marketing platforms: $20 to $1,000 monthly. Influencer campaigns: $2,000 to $8,000 per month.
And that’s before you try competing against OTAs for search visibility.
Competing with them on SEO? That’s like trying to outspend someone with billions in advertising budget. You’ll lose every time.
The Billboard Effect
Here’s the shift that changes everything.
OTAs aren’t your competition. They’re your billboard.
Expedia spent $1.65 billion in Q1 2024 alone on marketing. When you list on their platform with your branding visible, you’re riding their coattails. They pay for the exposure. You reap the benefits.
Cornell University proved this works in a previous study from 2009. Properties appearing on OTA first pages saw direct bookings increase between 7.5% and 26%. Even better? Every booking from an OTA generated an average of three to nine direct reservations. This should certainly be reviseted but no
OTAs create demand. They don’t steal it.
So what does this mean for you? Brand your listings wherever possible. Build a solid direct booking site. Then let the OTAs handle the heavy lifting on advertising while you capture both channel bookings and the direct traffic they generate.
It’s not either/or. It’s both.
The Real Strategy
For most US property managers with 50 to 100+ properties, the smart distribution mix is straightforward.
One direct booking site. Three to six OTA channels.
Not every channel available. Not zero channels. The right channels based on your specific goals, inventory makeup, and market dynamics.
But here’s where most managers get stuck.
Before you pick channels, you need to answer one question: What are you actually trying to achieve?
Is it revenue? Exposure? Owner retention?
That answer changes everything.
A distribution strategy helps you work smarter, not harder, on driving occupancy and revenue. But it starts with something uncomfortable. You have to admit that proving your independence matters less than filling your properties.
The holy grail doesn’t exist.
What exists is a balanced approach that captures demand from every viable source. Stop trying to do it alone. Start building a strategy that actually works.
