Travel sites like Booking.com bring guests to your door, and that has value. But the cost is easy to underestimate, because it is taken quietly as a percentage of every booking rather than as a bill you pay. This guide puts real numbers on it, comparing what a booking through an online travel agent costs you against the same booking through your own website, with shilling examples for a Kenyan property.
How each channel charges you
Booking.com and other OTAs
Travel sites charge a commission on every booking they send you, typically 15 to 20 percent, sometimes more. You do not pay upfront. The commission is deducted from each booking, so it is easy to forget how much it adds up to over a month or a year.
Your own booking website
Your own booking page costs you a payment processing fee on each booking, plus your software subscription. There is no per-booking commission. Through InzuHub the processing fee is around 2 percent for M-Pesa and 3.5 percent for card, and the booking engine itself is included in your plan.
A real example
Take a room that sells for KES 10,000 a night.
Through Booking.com at 18 percent commission:
- Commission: KES 1,800 per night
- You keep: KES 8,200
Through your own website, guest pays by M-Pesa (2 percent):
- Processing fee: KES 200 per night
- You keep: KES 9,800
On a single night, the direct booking puts KES 1,600 more in your pocket. Now scale it up. A property selling 300 room-nights a month at this rate keeps roughly KES 480,000 more per month on the bookings it shifts from the OTA to its own site. Even if only a third of bookings move across, the saving is large, and it dwarfs the cost of the software that makes direct booking possible.
It is not only the commission
The commission is the obvious cost, but OTAs carry others.
- You do not own the guest relationship. The travel site sits between you and the guest, controls the communication, and owns the data. Turning that guest into a repeat customer is harder.
- Rate and availability pressure. OTAs push you to match their terms and rates, and to keep rooms available to them.
- Payment timing. Depending on the arrangement, you may wait for funds rather than being paid at the time of booking.
A direct booking avoids all of this. The guest is yours, you are paid up front by M-Pesa or card, and you control the experience.
What about the reach OTAs give you?
This is the fair point in favour of travel sites: they put you in front of travellers who have never heard of you. That is genuinely useful, and it is why the answer is not to abandon them. The smart approach is to use OTAs for discovery, then move as many bookings as possible to your own channel, where you keep the revenue. Our guide on how to reduce OTA commission and take direct bookings covers exactly how.
Making direct booking easy
A direct booking only beats an OTA if guests can actually do it without friction. That means a fast, branded booking page that shows live availability and takes M-Pesa and card payment on the spot. If yours does not exist yet, our step-by-step guide on how to set up a booking website for your guesthouse walks you through it. With InzuHub, the booking engine is included on every plan, so this is ready to switch on.
Summary
- OTAs charge 15 to 20 percent commission on every booking, taken quietly per booking.
- Your own website costs only a small processing fee plus your subscription, with no commission.
- On a KES 10,000 room, a direct booking keeps roughly KES 1,600 more than an OTA booking.
- Use OTAs for reach, but move bookings to your own channel to keep the revenue and the guest relationship.
Frequently asked questions
How much does Booking.com charge in Kenya? Commission is typically 15 to 20 percent of each booking, sometimes higher depending on your agreement.
Is a direct booking really cheaper? Yes. You pay only a small processing fee, around 2 percent for M-Pesa, instead of 15 to 20 percent commission.
Should I leave Booking.com entirely? No. Keep it for reach, but give guests an easy direct option so you stop paying commission on bookings you could win yourself.
What do I need to take direct bookings? A branded booking website with live availability and M-Pesa and card payment. InzuHub includes this on every plan.
Want to keep more of every booking? InzuHub gives you a branded booking website with M-Pesa and card payments, included on every plan. Start your free trial or see the booking platform.