If you run a boutique hotel, resort, or luxury homestay in India, MakeMyTrip (MMT) is likely one of your biggest booking sources — and one of your biggest expenses. Standard commissions for independent hotels on MakeMyTrip range from 18% to 25% on every booking. If your room night sells for ₹5,000, MakeMyTrip takes up to ₹1,250 of that. Over a month, many Indian hotels are losing ₹1.5 lakh to ₹5 lakh to MakeMyTrip commissions.
💡 The real solution: Don't fight MakeMyTrip on their terms. Outsmart the channel by diverting the traveler's booking journey onto your own direct lines before they complete their purchase on the OTA.
Let's do the math. If your hotel has 20 rooms, an Average Daily Rate (ADR) of ₹6,000, and 65% occupancy, you sell roughly 390 room nights per month generating ₹23.4 lakh in revenue. If 80% of these bookings come through MakeMyTrip at 20% commission, you pay MMT ₹3.74 lakh in commissions every single month. That's ₹44.8 lakh per year — profit that could be reinvested into property upgrades, guest experiences, or your own marketing.
When you build a direct reservation pipeline, even shifting just 30% of those bookings to direct channels saves you over ₹1.1 lakh per month.
Travelers in India use MakeMyTrip as a search engine to discover hotels. However, after finding a property they like on MMT, more than 50% of travelers will search for that hotel's name on Google to view more photos, find direct contact numbers, or get a better deal. This behavior is called the "Billboard Effect."
If a traveler searches for your hotel name on Google and finds a slow, broken website with no contact number, they immediately return to MakeMyTrip to book. Your website must load instantly, showcase a prominent "Book Direct & Save" offer, and provide a direct WhatsApp chat button.
Google offers a powerful tool called Google Hotel Center, which allows hotels to display their direct rates alongside OTA rates on Google Search and Maps. Most hotel owners in India are completely unaware that Google provides "Free Booking Links."
When someone searches for your hotel on Google, they will see a booking panel. By setting up your direct booking engine feed, your direct website link will appear with a tag saying "Official Site." Travelers prefer booking directly with the hotel if the rate is identical or slightly lower — at zero cost to you.
Indian travelers are highly price-conscious. If they see a room listed on MakeMyTrip for ₹5,000, they will often message your hotel directly asking for a discount. This is your opportunity. Instead of violating public rate parity by publishing lower rates on your website, train your team to use WhatsApp:
"If you book directly with us via WhatsApp today, we can offer the same rate of ₹5,000 but include a complimentary breakfast buffet and a guided nature walk worth ₹1,200."
MakeMyTrip cannot offer physical hospitality experiences. Use this to your advantage. Design exclusive direct-booking incentives that guests can only access through your official channels:
MakeMyTrip actively hides guest contact details on their booking sheets. However, once the guest checks in at your front desk, they are in your physical property. Create a simple digital check-in form that captures their WhatsApp number and email. Set up automated guest loyalty sequences reaching out 3 months later: "We loved having you stay with us. Book your next stay directly with code WELCOMEBACK to receive a 10% discount and a complimentary dinner."
No. MakeMyTrip cannot delist your hotel for having a website or running your own marketing. As long as you maintain rate parity on public platforms, you are in full compliance. Private offers made over WhatsApp or phone are completely outside their jurisdiction.
Instead of trying to match a ₹1,000 credit card discount, focus on offering experiences with a high perceived value but a low marginal cost to you. A complimentary dinner or room upgrade costs very little physically but is worth thousands to the guest.
No. Many successful independent hotels in India secure over 70% of their direct bookings through simple WhatsApp conversations. You can easily share payment links or UPI QR codes to collect booking advances securely.
MakeMyTrip bids on your hotel name because travelers searching for your specific name are ready to book. You can counter this by optimizing your Google Maps profile and running a lightweight Google Search Ad campaign on your own hotel name to claim the top spot.
Start by auditing where your traffic is leaking. Set up a fast, mobile-friendly landing page with a direct WhatsApp chat button. Make sure your direct booking phone number is clearly visible on your Google Maps listing. Once these basics are in place, focus on on-ground database capture to secure repeat direct bookings.
Mohit Swami helps independent hotels build direct booking systems that recover commission revenue. Get a free audit of your current OTA dependency today.
Also read: Complete Direct Bookings Guide | Direct Booking Funnel Services
