The battle for direct bookings has entered a new phase as online travel agents (OTAs) ramp up efforts to establish ownership of hotel guests and their booking journeys, a new report from hospitality technology specialist SHR Group reveals1. While OTAs and hotels have a mutually beneficial relationship, the Hotel Industry Trends Report 2024 exposes for the first time the way a recent influx of marketing spend from OTAs is fast reducing hotels’ share of direct bookings. The share of reservations represented by direct bookings fell from 39% to 38%1 in 2023, having been stable for two years following a post-pandemic return to normal. This is the equivalent of approximately 7.8million global reservations in 2023 when applied to the worldwide hotel market2.