Should I build my own booking system for my boutique hotel?

Let me do a similar calculation from an e-commerce perspective, thinking in numbers makes decision-making easier.

Calculate this: what's your total annual commission? What percentage of bookings do you expect to come through your own channel? Is the savings from that percentage greater than the total of system subscription + payment gateway fees + advertising costs?

The most overlooked item here is the payment infrastructure. When you collect payments on your own site, you still pay a commission, it's not zero.

Second overlooked item: cancellation and refund management. The OTA handles this for you. On your own channel, you'll handle customer service, and that means time.

Zehra Hanım, there's a free task to do before opening your own channel, I recommend it.

Search for your hotel's name. Are OTAs ranking high with your name? Most likely yes. So even people searching for you are going through the OTA, and you're paying commission.

To fix this: your site needs to rank first for brand searches. Your map listing must be complete, the booking button on your site must be visible, and your contact info must be clear.

This alone will bring some repeat guests directly to you. It costs nothing and is the work to do before setting up a system.

Thank you so much, thanks especially for explaining step by step, I love thinking this way too.

I searched for my hotel's name and you're right, the top three results are OTAs, my site is fourth. I never checked this.

I'll fix this part first, then look into a ready-made booking engine. I've also noted the calendar sync issue; I won't launch anything until that's sorted.

I'll post the results here in a few months, hopefully it helps others in the same situation.

My questions are cleared up, thanks.

there is something to watch out for. anyway taking notes for two weeks yiellds better results than a six-month estimate.

just leaving this note, it mihgt be useful.

Thanks for posting. The harder it is to reverse a decision, the slower you should make it.

That's all, sorry if I went on too long.

I think differently. If you get three different answers on a topic, the question was asked wrong.

There's a common mistake people make when doing this. Mistakes made on the tourism side are usually reversible but expensive.

Just leaving this note, it might be useful.

The most overlooked point about tourism is this: When making a decision also write down the cost of reversal.

Proven by experience.

Thanks, this was very helpful.

I'll try it.

I felt relieved reading this answer, so it's not just me. Everyone rushing into tourism gets stuck at the same point.

Don't hesitate to ask; those who don't ask always pay more. Of course, it varies if your situation is different.

We experienced almost the exact same thing last year. honestly the biggest time-waster for us was not knowing who had the final say.

Solutions that work at a small scale collapse when you grow; I learned this late. Just leaving this note it might be useful.

I have a question. The real issue isn't the number but what it's based on.

Solutions that work at a small scale collapse when you grow; I learned this late. Proven by experience.

I went through the same thing. honestly taking notes for two weeks yields better results than a six-month estimate.

Proven by experience.

tiely topic.

Let me clarify the technical side. Taking notes for two weeks yields better results than a six-month estimate.

Good luck with that.

You're right I've been down that road too... anyway any unwritten clause becomes a point of disagreement later, as both sides remember it differently.

Solutions that work at a small scale collapse when you grow; I learned this late. That's all sorry if I went on too long.