You already have a marketing budget. It’s going to Airbnb.

Why this number matters

OTA fees don’t feel like marketing because they’re taken before payout. You never write the check, so the cost never shows up as a budget line anyone has to defend.

But that’s exactly what they are: the price of a guest you didn’t win yourself. For a 300-unit manager, that can be over $1M a year spent building Airbnb’s brand instead of yours.

The managers who grow fastest treat that number as their real marketing budget. They reinvest a meaningful share of revenue in winning guests directly, they count only the costs that are truly new, and they build a guest list they can reach again for free.

Results from managers we work with

• +517% direct revenueA luxury manager on 30A and Destin went from $131K to $812K in direct bookings in 12 months, after a new direct booking site and paid campaigns.
• $996K commission-freeAn ultra-luxury Exumas brand booked $996K direct in a year, averaging $16,066 per booking.
• 2x direct revenueA Myrtle Beach brand reached $786K and 888 direct reservations while overall search traffic was slightly down.
• +42% conversionIn the first 30 days after a new site launch at a 500+ unit Myrtle Beach resort.

See the full case studies

How we calculate it

We multiply the revenue you book through each OTA by that channel’s commission. The defaults are Airbnb 15.5% (the host-only fee), Vrbo 12% and Booking.com 20%, and you can change any of them. The full report adds the cost of winning direct bookings, about 20% of the revenue they bring in, so the payoff it shows is net, not just commission saved.

About BuildUp Bookings

BuildUp Bookings is a marketing agency built only for vacation rental managers. We build direct booking websites and run paid search, social, SEO and email. Conrad O’Connell also hosts the Heads In Beds Show, a weekly podcast on vacation rental marketing with more than 200 episodes.

Questions

Is direct really cheaper once you count marketing?

Not in year one. Winning a direct guest costs more than an OTA commission. It pays once enough of those guests come back and book direct again, and your report shows the repeat rate where that happens for your numbers.

We’ll never be 100% direct. Why bother?

You don’t need to be. At your size, moving even 10 points of revenue direct changes the economics.

We already have an agency.

Good. Use this number to ask them how much of your hidden budget they’re winning back.

Is my data stored?

Only if you ask for the report, and we never share it.