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  • Independent hotels and restaurants · France

    Reducing OTA commissions:
    sell more direct to pay less in commissions

    ARETA does not negotiate your commission rate. It reduces the share of your revenue that goes through platforms, and so the commissions you pay per euro collected, by making your business visible without an intermediary on Google and in answer engines.

    ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ 5.0/5 from 20 reviews (Google, Sortlist, Malt, Pages Jaunes)

    Book 30 free minutes Request your distribution diagnosis
    A ratioThe intermediated share of your revenue, measured before and after: the platform dependency index
    SEO + GEOVisible on Google and cited by ChatGPT and Gemini, with no intermediary between you and your customers
    Public pricingFrom €120 excl. VAT per hour, displayed openly on the site

  • The mechanism

    The rate does not fall, the base does

    You pay commissions on every booking that comes through a platform. You do not choose the rate: Booking publishes no rate card and only states that it varies by country and type of property. What you can control is the base: the share of your revenue that goes through platforms.

    Negotiation is a dead end for an independent. With no public rate card and no group weight, discussing the rate leads nowhere. Waiting for a rate cut means letting the bill follow your intermediated sales mechanically.

    Reducing the intermediated share, though, is up to you. Every booking that arrives through your website instead of a platform is a commission you do not pay. The strategy is to make your business visible without an intermediary, on Google and in answer engines, to win back the direct share point by point.

    The right measure is a ratio, not an amount. SEO does not just move sales from platforms to your site: it also creates new demand. If your direct sales rise while your Booking volume stays stable, your bill does not fall in absolute terms, but you pay fewer commissions per euro collected.

    This ratio, the intermediated share of your revenue, is what we call the platform dependency index. It is measured beforehand, then at regular intervals: it is what tells you whether the strategy works.

    Worked example

    A business takes €500,000 a year, 70% through platforms. It brings that share down to 55%, at constant revenue, by growing its direct bookings. Its intermediated sales go from €350,000 to €275,000: its commission bill falls by a little over 20%, without renegotiating anything. This is a calculation example, not a client result.

    ARETA measures the share of your revenue that goes through platforms, the platform dependency index, and works to bring it down by making your business visible without an intermediary. Its pricing is public: from €120 excl. VAT per hour.

  • The real costs

    What you pay, plainly

    The real cost of your distribution is hard to read, and that is partly by design: platforms do not publish their rate cards. Here is what is documented, what is an estimate, and who produces each figure.

    ChannelWhat you payWhat can be verified
    Hotel OTAs (Booking and others) Rate not published
    The 15 to 30% ranges in circulation are estimates from third-party publishers, not an official scale.    		 Booking only states that the rate varies by country and type of property. The Genius discount, from 10 to 20%, is however documented by Booking: it is funded by the hotelier.Sources: Booking.com Partner Hub, consulted in August 2026.
    Direct distribution (your website) 3.5% of online revenue
    Average marketing cost of direct distribution, against an estimated 18 to 28% for OTAs.    		 Study published by D-EDGE in February 2025. Caveat: D-EDGE is a booking engine vendor, so it is both judge and party in this comparison.Source: D-EDGE, hotel direct distribution report, February 2025.
    Restaurant platforms (delivery, booking) Up to 30% or more
    Delivery platforms take a major share of the price of each order. TheFork does not publish a rate card.    		 30 to 35% of orders according to a written question to the National Assembly (17/02/2026), 24 to 25% according to L'Hôtellerie Restauration (18/02/2026). The restaurant breakdown is covered in the weight of platforms in your margin and in what each cover really costs you.

    Beyond the rate, count the rest: the discount you fund, the cancellation gap between channels and the customer relationship the platform keeps for itself. To work out the full calculation on a single booking, read the real cost of a Booking reservation.

    What nobody publishes: no French trade body study today quantifies the weight of commissions in margin points. All the more reason to measure yours.

  • The law is on your side

    You are allowed to be cheaper on your own website

    Many properties still align their prices with the platforms, believing they have to. In France, the price parity clause has been deemed unwritten since 2015, and the European framework has followed. The full reasoning is in our article are you allowed to be cheaper on your own website.

    6 August 2015

    Article L311-5-1 of the French Tourism Code

    Stemming from the law of 6 August 2015, it deems the price parity clause unwritten between a hotelier and a platform. You can offer a better price directly on your own website.

    19 September 2024

    Judgment C-264/23 of the Court of Justice of the EU

    The Court of Justice of the European Union rules that Booking's parity clauses are not ancillary restrictions necessary for its business. The lock is lifted at European level too.

    13 May 2024

    Booking, gatekeeper under the DMA

    The European Commission designates Booking a gatekeeper under the Digital Markets Act, with the stronger obligations that come with this status.

    This is not legal advice. These texts and decisions are public and verifiable; how they apply to your situation depends on your contracts. For any binding pricing decision, speak to your legal adviser.

  • The method

    How organic SEO lowers your commissions

    The chain has four steps. Organic SEO and AI visibility make your property visible without an intermediary; this visibility produces direct sales; direct sales reduce the intermediated share of your revenue; your commission bill shrinks for every euro collected, with no negotiation.

    1. Be found on Google without an intermediary

      When a customer searches for your property or one like it, your website must appear ahead of the platform pages. That is the job of organic SEO: hotel SEO for the accommodation side, restaurant SEO for the table. A tailor-made strategy for the whole of France, with expertise rooted in the Basque Country.

    2. Be cited by answer engines

      More and more travellers ask ChatGPT or Gemini where to stay and where to dine. A property missing from these answers leaves the recommendation to the platforms. GEO, optimisation for answer engines, complements SEO: being cited by AI becomes a direct channel in its own right.

    3. Turn this visibility into direct bookings

      Visibility is not enough if the booking journey drives people away. Our method to increase the direct share deals with the real obstacles: booking journey, direct offer, trust, follow-up. Checking the journey also relies on the 12 checkpoints of the booking funnel.

    4. Measure the ratio, wave after wave

      We measure the platform dependence index at the start, then at regular intervals: the share of your revenue coming from intermediated channels. It is the only figure that tells you whether you pay less commission per euro collected. No impressions, a measurement.

    A strategy, not stopgaps. This work is carried out by our hotel and restaurant marketing agency, with one conviction: consultants and experts in reducing OTA dependence should be judged on a measured ratio, not on promises. To compare providers, see the 9 criteria for choosing your agency.

    Let's discuss your distribution, 30 free minutes

  • Our commitment

    What we do and what we do not do

    You are comparing consulting firms, agencies, independent consultants and software vendors that all promise to reduce your dependence on OTAs. Here, plainly, is our exact scope.

    Our link in the chain

    What we do

    • Organic SEO for your hotel or restaurant: be found on Google without an intermediary, nationally and locally.
    • AI visibility (GEO): be cited when a customer asks ChatGPT or Gemini where to stay or where to dine.
    • Content and pages that convert into direct bookings, connected to your booking engine.
    • Measuring the result: the platform dependence index, recorded before, during and after.

    Out of scope

    What we do not do

    • We do not renegotiate your contracts with Booking, TheFork or delivery platforms.
    • We do not manage your revenue management or your day-to-day pricing policy.
    • We do not sell a booking engine or any software: we work with yours.
    • We do not promise a figure before we have measured your starting point.

    Who we work with. The complete direct booking chain has four links: visibility, booking engine, price and customer relationship. If you are looking for a complete OTA independence solution, it exists: we hold the visibility and direct acquisition link, and we work alongside your other providers, your booking engine, your revenue management and your CRM. Each link stays in the hands of a specialist, and you keep one accountable contact per topic.

  • Displayed pricing

    What it costs

    Our prices are public, excl. VAT, and displayed on the website. You know before the first meeting which range you are committing to, and the entry point costs nothing.

    ⭐ The entry point

    Distribution diagnostic

    30-minute meeting Free no commitment

    Together we establish your starting point: the share of your revenue that goes through platforms, your platform dependence index, and the realistic levers to bring it down. The pricing of the support comes afterwards, never before.

    Book the diagnostic

    Advice & coaching

    Hourly, depending on expertise

    From €120 excl. VAT/hour

    Local SEO at €120 excl. VAT, organic SEO at €140 excl. VAT, AI visibility (GEO) at €230 excl. VAT per hour. You buy expert hours, not an opaque subscription. Beyond 10 hours of advice per month: by quote.

    Discuss it in a meeting

    Monthly packs

    Fixed-price SEO

    From €390 excl. VAT/month

    Local SEO Starter Pack from €390 excl. VAT per month, Google 1st Page Pack from €990 excl. VAT per month, AI Visibility audit from €990 excl. VAT. The full details are on our transparent pricing.

    Choose with us

    Why we display our prices. You are comparing providers who, for the most part, publish nothing: comparing blind is impossible. Displaying our rates saves you time and commits us. The exact amount depends on your situation, never the other way round.

  • The proof

    What we have measured

    The direct booking consulting market is full of spectacular “afters” with no “before”. We take the opposite path: no client figure will be published on this website without a measured starting point, a named period and the written agreement of the property. Here is the protocol, as it applies to every engagement.

    01 · Before

    The measured starting point

    The platform dependence index on day one: the share of your revenue coming from intermediated channels, channel by channel. Without this zero point, no result can be demonstrated.

    02 · During

    What was done, and when

    The actions undertaken, the exact period, the channels worked on. A result without a named period means nothing: the seasonality of hotels and restaurants distorts any comparison made outside the calendar.

    03 · After

    The same index, measured again

    The same ratio, measured the same way, over a comparable period. Three figures and a sentence: the starting point, the action, the result. This is the format of our hotel and restaurant case studies.

    The first documented cases, one hotel and one restaurant, are being put together with the written agreement of the properties concerned. They will be published in our hotel and restaurant case studies, under the title what we have measured. Until then, no invented percentage, no anonymous testimonial: if a figure is on this website, it is attributed, dated and verifiable.

  • Frequently asked questions

    FAQ | OTA commissions and direct booking

    The questions hoteliers and restaurateurs ask us most often in meetings.

    Can you negotiate your commission rate with Booking?

    In practice, no for an independent property: Booking publishes no rate scale and only states that the rate varies by country and type of property. What you can control is the base: the share of your revenue that goes through the platform. A property that brings its intermediated sales from 70 to 55 per cent, at constant revenue, cuts its commission bill by a little over 20 per cent, without renegotiating anything. This is an arithmetic example, not a client result.

    How much does a Booking reservation really cost?

    The exact rate is not public. The 15 to 30 per cent ranges in circulation are estimates from third-party publishers. What Booking documents: the Genius discount, from 10 to 20 per cent, is funded by the hotelier. On top of that come the cancellation gaps between channels and the loss of the customer relationship. Our article on the real cost of a Booking reservation details the calculation.

    Are you allowed to be cheaper on your website than on Booking?

    In France, yes. Article L311-5-1 of the French Tourism Code, stemming from the law of 6 August 2015, deems the price parity clause unwritten. The Court of Justice of the European Union confirmed this line in judgment C-264/23 of 19 September 2024, and Booking has been designated a gatekeeper under the DMA since 13 May 2024. This is not legal advice: for your situation, speak to your legal adviser.

    Should you leave Booking, TheFork or Uber Eats?

    No, and we do not recommend it. Platforms remain a useful acquisition channel, especially for distant or last-minute customers. The goal is not to close the channel, but to lower its share of your revenue by developing direct sales: every point of direct share won back is a commission you no longer pay.

    How long does it take for the direct share to grow?

    It depends on your starting point: website, Google profile, reviews, reputation. Organic SEO takes several months to take effect, not several weeks. That is why we measure the platform dependence index from the start, then at regular intervals: you see the intermediated share change, instead of guessing.

    Are you a consultant, an agency or a software vendor?

    ARETA is a French agency for organic SEO and AI visibility, specialising in hotels and restaurants, with an address in Bayonne and clients across France. We are neither software nor a booking engine: we work with the tools you already have, and our work combines expert advice and execution.

    Do you offer a complete solution for OTA independence?

    The complete direct booking chain covers visibility, booking engine, price and customer relationship. We hold the visibility and direct acquisition link, in SEO and GEO, and we work alongside the other links: your booking engine, your revenue management and your CRM. You get a complete solution, with one accountable contact for each link.

    How much does ARETA support cost?

    Our prices are public and excl. VAT. Advice and coaching start at €120 excl. VAT per hour and vary with the expertise, up to €230 excl. VAT per hour for GEO. Local SEO packs start at €390 excl. VAT per month. The entry point remains the 30-minute meeting, free and with no commitment, to establish your distribution diagnostic.

    A question that is not on the list?

    Book the free 30-minute diagnostic

  • Free meeting · 30 min · no obligation

    Diagnostic of your distribution

    In 30 minutes, we establish your starting point: the share of your revenue that currently goes through platforms, channel by channel, and the realistic levers to bring it down. You leave with your platform dependence index and a clear idea of what is worth pursuing. Nothing to prepare, except your rough booking volumes by channel.

    Book my diagnostic
    Email[email protected]
    Phone06 50 82 74 13
    Address2 place du Château Vieux
    64100 Bayonne
    LinkedInARETA

    Monday to Friday, 8am to 8pm

    Last updated: 26 October 2026

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