Every channel has a job
1 in 9 bookings, 1/3 of revenue That is the travel agency channel in VISIT’s data from Iceland. Small by volume, one of the largest by value.*
+23% Higher typical price per night through travel agencies than direct. €232 against €188 on the same properties.
€111M Booked through Travia, VISIT’s B2B marketplace for hotels and travel agencies, in the last 12 months.
The big idea
If you have many sales channels but only one high season, you have one channel with different names. Your channels are not worth the same, and they do not peak at the same time. So give each one a job.
Three jobs most operators leave undone
Most of us already staff for reach, margin and rate. These three usually go missing:
Discovery. Being found by buyers who have never heard of you. List once on Travia and every agency in the marketplace can book you. About 43 new agencies join every month.
Fill. Filling the quiet weeks at a price you set, through deal sites, private booking sites for local networks, and member portals.
Exclusive demand. Reaching audiences nobody else can sell to, which usually starts with a partnership.
The channel few are measuring yet
AI assistants already send guests to travel sites, but more than a third of hotel web content is unreadable to them (Adobe, 2026). Being readable comes long before being bookable.
One thing to do
Rank your channels by net contribution per booking, after commission, payment costs and cost to serve. Then look at the bottom of the list and ask why it still gets your attention.