Direct booking or commissions: the sum few people do
An 18% commission should not be compared to the price of a site: it should be compared to what it will take from you over five years. Let us do the sum.
Published in August 2026
The sum, without the slogan
Take a modest place: fifteen bookings a month through a platform, at an average 45,000 FCFA a night, with 18% commission.
That is 121,500 FCFA of commission a month, close to 1,460,000 FCFA a year. Every year, with nothing lasting in return, since a guest booked through the platform belongs to the platform and not to you.
A site with direct booking costs, in this example, less than a quarter's worth of commission. It does not remove the platforms, but every booking taken directly is full margin.
What you get back, beyond the money
The contact. A guest who books with you leaves a number and an address: you can call them back next year, which the platform forbids.
The price. Directly, you set your rates, your offers and your cancellation terms, with no outside arbitration.
The relationship. A WhatsApp conversation before arrival beats an anonymous booking, and it is what produces the reviews you will need.
How to shift to direct without falling out
Nobody leaves the platforms overnight, and nobody should: they bring new guests. The shift happens differently.
- A note in the room: “next time, book directly, it costs you less”.
- A real advantage for direct guests: breakfast, an upgrade, 5% off, something concrete.
- A WhatsApp number that answers fast, shown everywhere, from the site to the invoice.
- A systematic review request at checkout, which feeds your own visibility.
When it becomes worth it
The threshold sits around eight to ten bookings a month. Below that, a site is still useful to be credible and findable, but it will not pay for itself on commission alone. Above it, the arithmetic becomes hard to ignore.
Questions that come up
Do platforms allow direct approaches?
They forbid bypassing a booking in progress, not building loyalty with a guest who has already stayed. The simple rule: nothing before the stay, everything is allowed during and after.
Do we need a full booking engine?
Not at first. A clear booking request handled within minutes on WhatsApp converts very well. A full engine is justified when volume demands it.
Is your case different?
Tell us where you stand. You get an answer about your situation, not a sales pitch.