How Hotels Can Counter High OTA Cancellation Rates

Joan Evelyn Lee | June 1, 2017

By Joan Evelyn Lee To entice consumers to book early, OTAs frequently advertise a free cancellation policy. Along with booking well in advance, the same tactic is used to encourage consumers to book multiple properties, which they can then choose from later. But this all comes at a heavy price for hotels. Guests are incentivized to book without worrying about whether they're certain about their choice. After all, they can always cancel if they change their mind. Unsurprisingly, this tactic has led to notoriously high OTA cancellation rates. These rates vary significantly among the OTAs. For instance, hotels on Booking.com, (which heavil...