Why We’ve Been Looking at the Hotel Brands vs. OTAs War All Wrong

Maybe we've been looking at the hotel distribution war all wrong, all along. For years, we at Skift have chronicled the battle between hotel brands and online travel agencies. Hilton and Marriott want guests booking direct; Booking.com and Expedia want those reservations to come through their platforms. Every new technology, most recently AI agents, is assessed by which side it will help. The fight is real. But the usual framing leaves out a party with a very different balance sheet: the hotel owner. The owner pays the brand for access to its commercial system and may also pay an OTA when that platform delivers the guest. The brand and the OTA negotiate over the customer, but it is often the property that must absorb the cost of both relationships and still turn a profit. Follow the Fees Hilton’s October 27 results make the distinction clear. The company reported $815 million in third-quarter franchise and licensing revenue, a line that