Distribution
What is OTA commission?
OTA commission is the fee an online travel agency charges a hotel for each booking it delivers, set as a percentage of the booking value. It commonly falls somewhere between 15% and 25%, depending on the OTA, the contract and any extra visibility programmes the hotel has joined.
How it is charged
Where the OTA collects the guest's payment, it deducts its commission and pays the hotel the rest. Where the guest pays at the hotel, the OTA invoices the commission later. In India, the OTA adds GST to its commission, and deducts TCS on bookings it collects payment for.
Working out the real cost
Compare channels on what you keep, not on the room rate. A ₹5,000 booking at 20% commission leaves ₹4,000 before tax on the commission. Tracking commission per OTA shows which channels are worth their cost and how much a direct booking saves.
In StaySynq
StaySynq keeps the OTA source on every booking, so commission and receivables can be tracked per channel.
Common questions
Is OTA commission charged on taxes?
It depends on the OTA's contract. Some calculate commission on the room rate before tax and others on the total paid by the guest, so check your agreement.
Related terms
- OTA (online travel agency)An OTA, or online travel agency, is a website or app that sells hotel rooms on behalf of hotels and earns a commission on each booking. MakeMyTrip, Goibibo, Booking.com, Agoda and Expedia are examples. OTAs bring reach and marketing that a single hotel can't match, in exchange for a share of the revenue.
- Direct bookingA direct booking is a reservation a guest makes with the hotel itself, through its website, by phone, by message or at the desk, rather than through an online travel agency. The hotel pays no OTA commission on it and holds the guest's contact details from the start.
- Rate parityRate parity is the practice of offering the same price for the same room, dates and conditions on every public sales channel, including OTAs and the hotel's own website. Many OTA contracts require it, and visible differences can push a hotel down in OTA search results.
- TCS on OTA bookingsTCS on OTA bookings is tax collected at source under Section 52 of India's GST law. When an online travel agency collects payment from the guest on the hotel's behalf, it deducts a small percentage of the booking value, pays it to the government and reports it against the hotel's GSTIN.
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