01
OTA commission is not free.
Booking.com, Expedia and Airbnb take 15-22% off the top of every booking. It does not show up as a line item on a bank statement, which is exactly why most owners underestimate it.
Free tool
What are Booking and Airbnb actually costing you?
Type in your numbers. See the annual commission you are handing to the OTAs and what shifting a share of those bookings to direct would save you. Built for Zanzibar, Arusha and East African coastal properties - the math works anywhere with OTAs.
01/Calculator
Your OTA bill, in 30 seconds.
No email gate, no signup. The numbers stay in your browser - nothing leaves your device. Use realistic averages from the last 12 months.
01 / INPUTS
Your numbers.
Use realistic averages from the last 12 months. The result updates as you type or drag.
USD
Per room, per night, in USD.
nights
Nights per booking.
/ month
Bookings via Booking, Airbnb, Expedia and similar.
%
Most coastal properties pay 15-22%.
%
Realistic year-one target: 20-50%.
02 / RESULT
What the OTAs are costing you.
- Annual OTA revenue
- $864,000
- Annual commission paid
- $155,520
600 bookings × $1,440 avg
Off the top, before anything else.
Revenue splitYou keep 82.0% · OTAs take 18%
If you shift 30% to direct...
$46,656 / year saved
Around $3,888/month freed up - your real budget for the website, photography, GBP and WhatsApp work that wins direct bookings instead.
Pull the lever
* Estimate, not a guarantee. Real direct-booking lift depends on photography, pricing, booking engine, GBP and WhatsApp follow-up. We model the full picture on the call.
02/How to read the result
Three things the number is telling you.
The headline savings figure is real money - but only if you actually win the direct bookings. Here is how we think about that.
02
The commission is your marketing budget.
Whatever you save by shifting bookings to direct is what you have available to invest in the website, GBP, photography and WhatsApp follow-up that wins those direct guests. The math has to balance.
03
A 30-50% shift is realistic.
You will not get to zero OTAs and you probably should not try. But with a tuned direct-booking presence, shifting a third to a half of your annual bookings to direct in year one is a credible target.
03/Calculator FAQ
What people ask about the math.
- It uses your numbers, so the headline figures are exactly right for what you input. What it does not model is the cost of the direct-booking marketing itself - photography, website, booking engine, GBP work, WhatsApp setup. We do that on the call, against your real situation.
Let’s talk
Want us to model your real situation, not the averages?
A 30-minute call. We look at your bookings, your photography, your current site and your GBP, and tell you honestly what a direct-booking shift would look like for your property.
Mon–Fri 08:00–17:00 EAT · Replies in under 4 hours during business days.