OTA commission is the fee a platform takes for selling a room. It's usually a percentage of the booking value, charged after the stay, and for most independent properties it lands somewhere around 15–20% — higher if the hotel buys into visibility or loyalty programmes that discount the rate further.
Commission is rarely negotiable for a small operator, and it compounds: the more of your bookings flow through OTAs, the larger your blended commission bill. It's also indirect — some platforms bid on a hotel's own brand name in search, so a property can pay commission on a guest who was already looking for it by name.
Why it matters for direct booking
Commission is the single biggest cost a direct channel removes. Because the rate is fixed, the practical way to reduce what you pay is to shift suitable bookings to a channel you own — every direct booking is one no commission applies to.