{"id":13147,"date":"2025-10-13T10:52:09","date_gmt":"2025-10-13T09:52:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.voxelgroup.net\/blog\/?p=13147"},"modified":"2025-10-22T10:49:43","modified_gmt":"2025-10-22T09:49:43","slug":"hotel-distribution-strategy-direct-reservations-vs-travel-sellers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.voxelgroup.net\/blog\/en\/hotel-distribution-strategy-direct-reservations-vs-travel-sellers\/","title":{"rendered":"Hotel distribution strategy: direct reservations vs travel sellers"},"content":{"rendered":"Tiempo de lectura:<\/span> 4<\/span> minutos<\/span><\/span>

The way hotels market their rooms has evolved significantly in recent years. Today, there are two major distribution channels: direct distribution, where the hotel manages the relationship with the customer directly (for example, through its own website, app, social media, or phone); and indirect distribution, which involves intermediaries such as Online Travel Agencies (OTAs), traditional travel agencies, or wholesalers.<\/span><\/p>\n

Direct and indirect distribution are two key approaches in hotel room marketing<\/strong>, and each has distinct advantages depending on the type of hotel, its strategy, and its target market. Each method comes with its own opportunities and challenges, and their effectiveness depends on several factors: the type of hotel, market positioning, sales strategy, and guest profile.<\/span><\/p>\n

At the <\/span>Bavel Travel Summit<\/span><\/a> 2025, Mustafa Korkmaz, CEO at jumbOnline, and Jacobo Alvarez, Director at Barcel\u00f3 Hotels, joined Maud Christophe and Antonio Morales from Voxel, an Amadeus company, for an interesting debate about how both approaches offer unique benefits and complement each other for an effective hotel distribution strategy.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Unique benefits for every distribution channel<\/span><\/h2>\n

There are many advantages to choosing either indirect or direct distribution. While both bring sales and ultimately guest reservations, each model presents its own unique benefits that can clash or sometimes complement the other existing model. <\/span>\u00a8Hotels and wholesalers share the same mentality, we all want to sell\u00a8, said Jacobo Alvarez. It\u2019s important to bear in mind that while these two distribution channels seem like rivals, they actually just use different means to reach the same end goal.<\/p>\n

The big benefit of working with travel sellers and wholesalers is their big sales teams and their international and\/or regional market knowledge.<\/strong> International hotel chains have a better chance to reach this level of global market comprehension. However, it\u2019s still not feasible for hotels to have sales teams with hundreds of people, as highlighted by Mustafa Korkmaz.<\/p>\n