Travel Agency Hotel Bookings Are Growing at Twice the Rate of OTAs

Hotel sales made by travel agencies are growing at nearly twice the pace of OTA bookings, according to new data from Onyx CenterSource, which processes payments from hotels to agencies and shared the findings with Hospitality.today.

Both Booking Holdings and Expedia Group grew room nights by 6% year-over-year, while commissionable agency room nights grew 11.8% over the same period. The figures clearly demonstrate that advisors are outpacing major OTAs with hotel partners this year.

The Onyx data also shows just how cost-effective the travel advisor channel is for hoteliers when compared to OTAs. While total commission payouts to agencies rose by roughly 13% year-over-year across a like-for-like property base, that increase was driven almost entirely by sheer booking volume rather than fee hikes or renegotiated terms. As ADRs rose 1.4%, the average commission rate rose by just 0.8%.

Because room nights grew nearly 12% and per-night commissions remained essentially flat (+0.8%), hoteliers paid more in total commissions simply because advisors delivered significantly more business—not because fee structures or contracts were renegotiated upward.

By contrast, driving additional volume on OTAs, metasearch engines, or emerging AI search tools typically requires hoteliers to absorb higher unit costs through commission-tier bumps, preferred placement badges, or higher ad bids, according to Hospitality.today.

While many recognize the value advisors bring to their clients, the numbers make the value advisors bring to their hotel partners obvious, too.