The Revination
December 2025
Explore Revinate’s monthly digest of hospitality’s latest insights and tips. As hoteliers, we know you’re flooded with information. The Revination simplifies that noise, making it easier for you to focus on what’s happening in hospitality, why it matters, and what action you can take today. We also share our perspective on industry trends and highlighting the strategies driving game-changing results for hotels like yours. Subscribe on LinkedIn.
Maximize guest value with an OTA winback strategy that works
Your next loyal guest might already be in your hotel — just not on your terms. OTA bookings get them through the door, but you don’t own the relationship, the data, or the chance to make them come back directly. That’s where an OTA winback strategy comes in.
Start by capturing contact details and paying attention to what they enjoyed most — whether it’s your rooftop bar, spa, or breakfast service. When you follow up with personalized messages, exclusive offers, or loyalty perks, you make booking direct feel like the obvious choice. Make the most of the holiday season and Q1 2026, and turn these early wins into a strong start to the year.
Numbers that matter
Turning food & beverage growth into an OTA winback advantage
Food and beverage revenue per occupied room increased 3.8% in the first half of 2025, outpacing total hotel revenue growth of 3.0%. While room revenue growth remained muted at just 0.8%, F&B continued to perform as a standout revenue stream, particularly for luxury and resort properties. The data signals a shift in where hotels found growth in 2025 — not just in selling rooms, but in maximizing spend during the stay.
Why it matters for hoteliers
This growth matters because it reveals where hotels can protect margins in a constrained demand environment. With occupancy and ADR growth under pressure, F&B has emerged as a dependable revenue driver — and one that extends beyond the room itself. Memorable dining, bars, and experiential outlets are influencing guest satisfaction and total stay value more than ever.
With commission costs cutting into margins, OTA winback has become essential, and rising F&B performance presents a clear opportunity. Guests who enjoyed a standout dining or beverage experience already have a strong emotional connection to the property, making them more likely to rebook direct. By using post-stay messaging that highlights those F&B moments, hotels can bring OTA guests back through direct channels, reduce commission costs, and build lasting loyalty — turning on-property revenue into a powerful OTA winback engine.
What’s Revinate’s take?
OTA winback starts with understanding what guests value most about their stay — and F&B is increasingly part of that story. And you can find those insights in your guest data for you to fuel smarter, more relevant engagement after checkout. When hotels connect on-property spend and sentiment to post-stay outreach, they can re-engage OTA guests with personalized messaging that reinforces why booking direct delivers more value. The right hotel technology enables this connection, but it’s the strategy behind the data that drives long-term revenue impact.
Trends that matter
AI commerce is reshaping hotel distribution and creating a new opportunity for Direct Bookings
A new HospitalityNet article highlights how generative AI is starting to influence the way travelers search for and book hotels. Instead of comparing prices on multiple websites, guests will increasingly ask AI tools to recommend properties and complete the booking instantly. This new booking trend could reshape hotel visibility, guest discovery, and the path to purchase.
Why it matters for hoteliers
As AI becomes a starting point for trip planning, the booking journey becomes shorter and more guided. This creates a new opportunity for hotels to appear in AI-generated recommendations and compete earlier in the search process.
But this shift also comes with risk. If hotels do not provide clear content, strong value messaging, and accurate direct booking information, AI systems may still rely on OTA feeds. That would reinforce OTA reliance at the very moment hotels could reduce it.
To benefit from this trend, hotels need strong direct channels, structured data, and clear reasons for guests to book direct. When content and value are easy for AI to read, hotels are more likely to be recommended. This is one of the biggest chances yet to move more bookings away from OTAs and toward channels that hotels control.
What’s Revinate’s take?
We believe the hotels that will win in an AI-led booking world are the ones that understand their guests and communicate value clearly. Clean data, smart segmentation, and personalized messaging help hotels stand out in both human and AI-driven search. Our focus is on helping hoteliers build stronger direct relationships that last beyond a single stay.
Perspectives that matter
Want to turn OTA bookings into real revenue wins? Personalized follow-ups and smart upsells help you connect with guests, boost their stay, and bring them back to book direct. Less commission, more loyalty — everyone wins.
$63 million in direct revenue in one year. Results like that are possible with a scalable, high-performing OTA win-back strategy that reduces reliance on third‑party booking sites, increases repeat stays, and boosts profitability. Discover how Brittain Resorts & Hotels turned occasional stays into a steady stream of direct bookings.
