Built for Gulf Shores & Orange Beach properties
Gulf Shores and Orange Beach hotels lose thousands every summer to Booking.com and Vrbo. Families who stayed with you last July are searching OTAs again this year — and you're paying commission on a guest who already knows your property.
Gulf Shores and Orange Beach run on two seasons: summer families and winter snowbirds. Both groups tend to come back year after year. They're not one-and-done travelers. They're repeat visitors who already know your property and loved their stay.
But here's the problem: when that family from Birmingham starts planning their beach week next June, they don't go to your website. They go to Vrbo. They go to Booking.com. They search “Gulf Shores beachfront” and your property shows up — buried under OTA ads. They click. They book. And you pay 15–25% commission on a guest who was already yours.
The same thing happens with snowbirds. A retired couple from Michigan spent three months at your property last winter. They want to come back. But you never captured their email. You have no way to send them an early-bird rate or a welcome-back offer. So they search again, and the OTA gets the credit — and the commission. You're paying to re-acquire guests you've already won.
While you're focused on hospitality, the OTAs are running a multi-billion-dollar operation to make sure guests never reach your website directly.
$17.8B
spent on marketing by the top 4 OTAs in 2024 alone
$7.3B
Booking Holdings' marketing spend — 31% of their entire revenue
24%
of the time, YOUR hotel doesn't appear first — even when guests search your name
Your name. Your brand. A real reason for guests to skip the OTAs and come straight to you next summer.
Capture every guest before they leave. When a family checks in for their beach week, your front desk enrolls them in 30 seconds. Now you have their email, their stay history, and a direct line to bring them back.
Give snowbirds a reason to book early. Returning members earn points and unlock perks. When your winter guests see their rewards balance, they don't need to shop around. They call you.
Commission savings are the byproduct. As more guests book direct, your OTA costs go down naturally. But the real value is a growing list of loyal guests who think of your property first — not Expedia.
Plug in your numbers below. With an average nightly rate around $175 in the Gulf Shores area, even a small shift from OTA bookings to direct bookings adds up fast — especially across peak summer months and snowbird season.
Plug in your numbers and see what happens when guests start coming back direct.
Annual average is fine
Expedia, Booking.com, Hotels.com, etc.
Usually 15–25% depending on your agreement
These guests came and went. You don't have their email. You can't bring them back.
If your loyalty program moves...
| OTA guests to direct | Guests retained | Commission saved | New direct rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10% | ~190/yr | $14,947/yr | 64% |
| 20% | ~380/yr | $29,894/yr | 68% |
| 30% | ~569/yr | $44,840/yr | 72% |
That's 190 to 569 guests per year who become YOUR repeat customers — and $14,947 to $44,840 in commissions you stop paying.
And it compounds. Year two, those guests come back direct again — plus the new ones you enroll this year.
Tell us about your property and we'll show you what your branded loyalty program would look like. No commitment, no pressure.