What your guests are really hunting for, and where they find it
Travelers got cost-conscious, and it's showing up in how they book.
SiteMinder's 2026 report spells out what guests want from a property:[1]
- 57% are chasing better prices or package deals
- 42% say freebies influence whether they come back
- 28% are drawn to loyalty programs
- 66% want more control over changes to their booking
- 61% want clearer communication with the property
Look at that list. Better prices. Perks. Loyalty rewards. Control. A real person to talk to.
Here's the catch: not one of those is something Airbnb can give them.
The OTA can't offer the thing the guest is asking for
Airbnb can't email a past guest a free early check-in. Vrbo can't throw in a returning-guest discount to win the rebooking. The platforms take their cut and standardize everything. Loyalty rewards, package deals, a price break for coming back, a direct line to the owner. None of it fits inside the app.
So the guest is standing there asking for things the OTA structurally can't deliver. The host who can deliver them gets the booking. It's that simple.
And guests are voting with their feet. 40% of American travelers now say they prefer to book directly with a property.[1] They're not doing that for fun. They're doing it because direct is where the value is.
Both sides want the same thing. The OTA is the odd one out.
Here's what makes this such an easy win.
The guest wants to save money. You want to keep more of every booking.
A direct booking that saves the guest 10% and saves you the platform's cut is a deal you both win on. The only one that loses is the middleman. That's why hosts who shifted direct saved $6.9 million in OTA fees in a single year, and direct booking revenue rose 91%.[2]
When the buyer and the seller want the same outcome, that outcome tends to happen. You just need a way to make the offer.
What you can put in front of them that Airbnb can't
Once you have a guest's email, you can offer the exact things that list is asking for:
- A returning-guest rate, so the better price is already waiting in their inbox
- A package that bundles the stay with an early check-in or late checkout for one number
- A free local guide or restaurant list sent only to past guests
- A simple "book direct, skip the fee" note when they're planning next year's trip
Each one costs you almost nothing. None of them exist on any OTA. And you can lean on what already drives the most add-on revenue. Revinate's data ranks the top upsells as breakfast deals, parking, early check-in, and late checkout.[3] Small offers, real money, and a guest who feels looked after.
A guest who knows a better deal is waiting in their inbox doesn't reopen the Airbnb app to book your place. They book direct, because the value they were hunting for is already there.
That's why hosts running email see 15-30% of their annual bookings come from it.[4] They can finally hand the guest exactly what the guest came looking for.
What it takes
GuestLink builds that channel for you. Print a QR code, put it in the property, collect the emails, and let the offers go out on their own. No hardware, no website, no agency. $250 a year, one booking pays for it.
Your guests are already hunting for value. You're already trying to keep more of each booking. The OTA is the only thing standing in the middle. The decision is whether to step around it.
Sources
Written by
Dom Trovato · Founder, GuestLink
Dom Trovato is the founder of GuestLink and the publisher of The Host Report. He writes about direct bookings, guest data, and the systems that turn one-time stays into repeat revenue.
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