OTAs
Booking.com ranking: what affects your hotel’s position
The factors that influence where your hotel appears in Booking.com search results, and the ones you can control.
Your position in Booking.com search results directly affects how many bookings your hotel gets. The exact algorithm isn’t public, but its logic is clear: Booking.com promotes the properties it believes will get the most bookings and leave guests satisfied.
The factors that matter
Conversion
Of the people who see your page, how many book. Conversion is driven by your rate, photos, reviews, cancellation policy and how clear your description is.
Reviews
Your score and the number of recent reviews. Replying to reviews shows future guests that the hotel cares.
Rate and competitiveness
Your rate compared with similar properties in the area, and whether it matches your rate on other channels. If Booking.com finds a cheaper rate elsewhere, your position can suffer.
Availability
Hotels that open availability early and for many dates appear in more searches. Closed rooms or strict restrictions limit your visibility.
Page completeness
High-quality photos, complete facility details, correct room types and a good description. Booking.com shows a page-completeness score in the extranet.
Visibility programmes
Programmes such as Genius and paid visibility options improve your position, at a cost in discounts or commission. They are worth it when the numbers add up, not out of habit.
A short checklist
- Check page completeness in the extranet and fill in what is missing.
- Refresh your photos, with the best one first.
- Reply to reviews, positive and negative.
- Compare your rate with your comp set and with other channels.
- Open availability for next season early.
- Measure each visibility programme’s results before renewing it.
Booking.com, but not only
A good position on Booking.com brings bookings, but over-dependence on one channel costs you in commissions and negotiating power. Distribution needs a balance between OTAs, tour operators, corporate clients and direct bookings.
SV Hospitality manages distribution as a whole, with pricing and every channel together, because each channel’s performance depends on the others.
Author
Founder and CEO of SV Hospitality, with 20+ years in hotel yield, revenue management and sales: youtravel.com, TUI Hellas, Purple Travel, HotelBrain, Radisson Blu Santorini and Grecotel.
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