Short-term rental hosts drastically increased their use of direct booking channels in 2025, reducing their reliance on online travel agencies like Airbnb and Vrbo to keep more of their earnings. New data from Hospitable shows direct booking revenue rose 91% year over year, reaching $53.7 million.
That shift had a clear financial impact. According to Hospitable, hosts and property managers saved $6.9 million in OTA fees by steering more guests to book directly. Earlier survey data showed that reducing fees was a top priority for nearly two-thirds of operators, and the 2025 results show that many followed through on that goal.
The platform’s data also shows how smaller revenue streams added up. Hosts generated more than $177,000 in upsell income after the feature launched in June and recovered almost $18,000 through security deposits over the year. While these figures are small compared to total booking revenue, they show how operators are looking for every lever they can pull to increase margins.
Across the platform, Hospitable users produced $5.2 billion in booking revenue in 2025 and paid $141.5 million in taxes. Guest communication scaled as well, with more than 108 million messages sent through the system.
Looking ahead, many operators plan to lean even harder into direct channels. About 25% of STR hosts say they expect to expand their direct booking websites in 2026, and 70% of self-managing hosts list direct bookings as a major priority for next year.
Pierre-Camille Hamana, CEO of Hospitable, said rising fees remain a core concern. He noted that more operators are taking a closer look at what they pay to OTAs and where they can keep more of their revenue.
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