sarahhabsburg
- Jan 29, 2022
- 8 min read

Top 12 Sources of Hotel Bookings for 21 Countries in 2021

Due to the success of this blog last year, here goes the updated version with the top 12 sources of hotel bookings per country for 2021.

What was relevant in 2020 morphed as the pandemic lumbered on through 2021. The insights we can derive from this super useful information will help you once again to work out where to focus your marketing efforts. But not only that, it will guide and influence how many, and which, OTAs offer an optimum balance for your property, according to your location and consumer demands.

Siteminder’s annual list of the Top 12 sources of hotel bookings is a reliable source of information. It details which distribution channels consumers are gravitating toward and, subsequently, which generate the greatest revenue for accommodation providers around the world.

AND THE BEST PART… direct bookings continue to increase! 🥳🥳🥳

According to the report, in 12 markets, direct bookings are now ranked as the second-top producer of booking revenue for local hotels, up from five markets last year and just two in 2019.

The 12 markets leading the way in direct bookings for 2021 were Australia, Austria, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal, South Africa, Spain and the UK.

This is great news for our bottom lines as occupancy break even point is of course lower when bookings are direct and no commission is paid.

That is not the only good news though!

Local and regional distribution channels have maintained their strength and relevance in 2021.

According to the report, channels such as EzTravel and AsiaYo in Asia, Hero Travel in Australia, Kurzurlaub in Austria, Tiket.com in the Philippines, SafariNow.com in South Africa, and Off Peak Luxury in the UK are all new arrivals on the lists this year, while the local Traveloka channel has had a breakthrough performance to hit the top spot in Indonesia.

Both the increase in direct bookings, and the preference of choosing more local channels, are indicative of the growing consumer awareness towards taking more responsible decisions when travelling.

Booking .com's Sustainable Travel Report 2021 ¹ also highlighted this change in attitudes as reflected in these quotes:

"61% of travelers state that the pandemic has made them want to travel more sustainably in the future".

"49% of travelers admit that the pandemic has shifted their attitude to make

positive changes in their everyday lives".

"69% of travelers are committed to reducing the carbon footprint of their trip".

These are some encouraging stats for anyone concerned about climate change and the future of our planet.

There is of course still so much more to do, and I believe that tourism business owners are not only super well placed, but also have an inherent responsibility, to educate the public about the benefit of booking direct or using locally owned channels.

I believe that if every accommodation owner talks about the positive impact a direct booking has on their business and their local community, the seemingly impossible mass change of booking consciousness will begin to shape into reality.

Let’s share with our guests how much more cash a direct booking leaves in our destinations.

How it allows hotel owners to invest more in staff training therefore increasing opportunities for local people.

How it gives us a chance to support local initiatives and reduce our carbon footprints because we have more spare cash to invest.

This all starts with celebrating your direct bookings. And I have a tried and tested way of doing this that is free and amazingly powerful. Take a look a this 4 minute video to find out more:

As mentioned in the video, this is the link to the free graphic design tool Canva, and here is the blog all about how to make Canva work for your hotel.

There will always be challenges, but I am wholly passionate about supporting you with resources that increase your confidence and commitment to taking more responsible business decisions. To make sure you always receive new info as it comes out, if you haven’t already, sign up to my email list here.

Enough about that, let’s get onto those results:

Click on your destination below, or feel free to browse through the whole list. Don’t forget to scroll right down to the bottom for some insights into how best to apply this information.

Apologies to anyone who doesn’t find their own country here. Siteminder endeavours to cover the most popular destinations, but of course many, notably in Asia and Latin America, do not feature. I questioned this last year and hoped to see a change this year. I am happy to say that Asia and Colombia have been included for 2021. Here's hoping to see more from Latin America on the list in 2022!

Top 12 Booking Sources List