According to research undertaken in February 2025, hotels see strong financial returns from commissions paid to online travel platforms. Using data from a representative sample of 644 U.S. hotels across various segments, the study quantifies the financial effects of listing on an online platform. The findings show that for every dollar spent on travel platform commissions (per available room), occupancy increases by 1.12 percent, RevPAR (revenue per available room) rises by $20.20, and EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) grows by $7.08.
These results indicate that, for most hotels, online travel platforms boost profitability and generate net-positive financial returns. The study reinforces the importance of a hotel-specific, data-driven approach to distribution strategy. However, for economy hotels, online travel platform participation has a slight negative effect on profitability, as the gains in occupancy and RevPAR are outweighed by commission costs. Economy hotels accounted for 20% of the research sample, meaning that four out of five hotels benefit from working with online travel platforms.
