Hotel Revenue Glossary · Distribution

OTA (Online Travel Agency)

A third-party platform that markets or distributes hotel offers to consumers under its own participation, payment, and compensation terms. Commercial models and total hotel cost vary by platform, programme, contract, market, and booking.

Why it matters: OTAs can provide incremental reach or substitute demand that would have arrived elsewhere. Compare channel-specific acquisition, payment, loyalty, cancellation, servicing, attribution, and net contribution rather than assume OTA necessity or direct profitability.

All glossary terms Distribution Channel GDS (Global Distribution System) Rate Parity