Channel Mix
Channel mix is the combination of distribution channels through which a hotel receives its bookings, such as its own website and phone line, online travel agencies (OTAs), the GDS and tour operators (Channel Mix (Dataria Revenue Glossary)). It is read as each channel's share of bookings: across European hotels in 2025, 51.3% of bookings were direct and 29.9% came through OTAs (European Hotel Distribution Study 2026, Executive Summary (HOTREC)).
Last updated: November 2026
How channel mix works
Every reservation is credited to the channel that produced it, and those shares together make up the hotel's mix. The direct share counts bookings that arrive through the hotel's own website, email, telephone and walk-ins (European Hotel Distribution Study 2026, Executive Summary (HOTREC)). On the indirect side, OTAs are the single most important channel for European hotels (European Hotel Distribution Study 2026, Executive Summary (HOTREC)).
The OTA slice is itself concentrated. In 2025, Booking Holdings accounted for 68.8% of European OTA bookings and Expedia Group for 16.6%, or 85.4% between the two groups (European Hotel Distribution Study 2026, Executive Summary (HOTREC)). Those figures are shares of OTA bookings, so Booking Holdings' slice of a hotel's total mix is smaller than 68.8%.
The European numbers come from 2,713 hotels: 1,882 individual responses from 28 countries plus aggregated data from 831 chain properties, a sample weighted toward small and medium-sized businesses (European Hotel Distribution Study 2026, Executive Summary (HOTREC)). The study has run every two years since 2014, led by HES-SO Valais-Wallis together with national hotel associations (HOTREC European Hotel Distribution Study (WKO Austria)).
Most hotels sell through several channels at the same time and run them from one system: 66% of the surveyed European hotels use a channel manager (European Hotel Distribution Study 2026, Executive Summary (HOTREC)).
Why channel mix matters for hotel distribution
Distribution channels in the hotel industry carry different costs. The hotel's own website is generally its lowest cost of sale, and shifting OTA business to it is one way hotels reduce the commissions they pay (What is a good channel mix for a hotel? (eHotelier Insights, 2019)). In US data covering 25,000 hotels from 2013 to 2016, third-party payments generally ran 7% to 15% of guest-paid revenue (HSMAI Section: Demystifying the Digital Marketplace (Hospitality Upgrade, Spring 2017)). Over 2014 to 2016, the OTA share of US room nights rose 28%, moving bookings away from property-direct channels (HSMAI Section: Demystifying the Digital Marketplace (Hospitality Upgrade, Spring 2017)). Each booking an OTA makes carries an OTA commission.
European hotels moved in the same direction over a longer period. From 2013 to 2025, the direct share fell from 57.6% to 51.3% while the OTA share rose from 19.7% to 29.9% (European Hotel Distribution Study 2026, Executive Summary (HOTREC)). The most recent change is small: between 2023 and 2025, direct bookings went from 50.9% to 51.3% and the OTA share held at about 30% (Hotel distribution in 2026: The OTAs still sell your rooms (Hospitality Net)).
For a revenue team, this makes the mix a number to watch next to occupancy and rate, tracked as each channel's share month by month, including the share of direct bookings.
Channel mix compared with market segmentation and distribution mix
Market segmentation classifies customers, while channel mix describes where the bookings come from (Channel Mix (Dataria Revenue Glossary)). Distribution mix is the wider term: the combination of direct and intermediary channels through which travel products are marketed as well as sold (Distribution mix (AltexSoft glossary)).
| Channel mix | Market segmentation | Distribution mix | Channel manager | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Focus | Where bookings come from | Who the customers are | How products are marketed and sold | The tool that runs the channels |
| Covers | Direct, OTA, GDS, tour operator and other booking channels | Customer groups | Direct and intermediary channels, for marketing and for sales | The connections from one property to its channels |
| Typical use | Tracking each channel's share of bookings | Classifying guests | Planning where a product is promoted and sold | Keeping each channel up to date |
Frequently asked questions
What is channel mix in a hotel?
Is there an ideal channel mix for a hotel?
How does channel mix affect hotel revenue?
Do cancellation rates differ by booking channel?
Related terms
See all termsWhere Jetstream fits
Every channel in a hotel's mix sells from the same rooms, rates and availability, whichever share of bookings it brings. Jetstream builds an AI channel manager that connects a property's systems to the channels where guests book and keeps rooms, rates and availability accurate on each one, managed from one place.