Industry · Direct bookings · Google · Instagram
More direct bookings, less OTA commission. A plain plan for East African hospitality.
Built for beachfront lodges, Stone Town boutique hotels, safari operators and Dar restaurants. Our plan starts with one question: how do you win the booking before Booking.com does?
The problem
You pay 15–22% commission, and the guest still isn’t yours
The OTA sends the booking but keeps the guest’s email address. The first message the guest gets is from the OTA, not from you. The review lives on a site you don’t control. The only way to rank higher inside the OTA is to pay more or cut your price. And your own website hasn’t changed in years.
What good looks like
A property that wins more of its own bookings
A website that makes booking direct easy on a phone. A Google Business Profile with fresh photos, regular posts and every review answered. An Instagram feed guests recognise before they reach your site. Quick replies on WhatsApp. And a clear sum of what each OTA booking costs you, set against the marketing that replaces it.
Where we start
Our first steps in this sector. Anything outside our fixed-price services is quoted in writing first.
- Work out what OTA commission costs you each year, next to your direct bookings
- A website built around dates, room types, real photos and ‘why book direct’
- Google Business Profile complete: photos, posts, reviews, services and hours
- Instagram and Facebook on a steady plan, not random sunsets
- WhatsApp buttons on every page, so guests can ask before they book
- Seasonal planning for high, shoulder and low season
- Plain measures: direct bookings, direct revenue and commission saved
Where the work goes
The same services and prices as everywhere, in the order we would use them here.
Web design
A site that takes direct enquiries on a phone. Booking-engine set-up is quoted in writing first.
Google Business Profile
Guests check your Google profile before they book. Photos, posts and review replies matter here.
Instagram + Facebook
Instagram is where guests look first. A steady feed matters more than chasing trends.
Blog articles
Local guides and ‘why book direct’ articles that answer what guests search for.
SEO
Searches for your property name, your area and the questions guests ask before they book.
Articles on this sector
Article
Zanzibar properties - winning direct bookings back from the OTAs
A practical guide for Zanzibar and coastal hospitality owners. How to model the cost of OTAs, what a direct-booking site actually needs, and how to measure what you win back.
Article
WhatsApp Business is your front desk - how to set it up so it actually closes
A practical guide to setting up WhatsApp Business for East African SMEs - the catalog, the auto-replies, the templates, and the discipline that turns inbound messages into bookings.
Article
Eight Google Business Profile mistakes East African businesses can fix this week
A checklist of eight common Google Business Profile mistakes for Tanzanian, Kenyan, Ugandan and Rwandan businesses - and the cheap fixes that help you show up in the local map results.
Common questions
Ask anything else on WhatsApp. We reply in under 4 hours during business days.
- We won’t promise a number. Our free OTA calculator (/tools/ota-calculator) shows what each booking moved to direct is worth to you.
- Yes. They bring guests who would never find you otherwise. The goal is not zero OTAs. It is to win back enough direct bookings that the commission you save pays for the marketing. The OTAs stay as one way guests find you, not the only way.
- The plan is different. For restaurants, the work is Google Business Profile, photos, Instagram and reviews. The ‘direct booking’ is the walk-in or the WhatsApp reservation.
- Google Business Profile work shows first: new photos, posts and review replies appear on your profile straight away. A website takes longer to build search traffic, often three months or more. We won’t promise a number. We set targets with you in the proposal and report against them every month.
Sectors with a similar plan
- Brand · Online store · Social
Retail & E-commerce
Built for brands that sell direct in fashion, beauty, lifestyle and food. Our plan starts with three things: a look people recognise, an online store that works on a mid-range Android, and steady posts where your buyers spend their time.
- Leads · Listings · Local SEO
Real Estate & Property
Built for estate agencies, off-plan developers and short-let operators in Dar, Zanzibar, Nairobi and Kigali. Our plan starts with two numbers: what each real lead costs, and how fast you reply.
Tell us about your business
You leave with a plain answer.A free 30-minute call. You leave with a plain view of what your first 90 days should look like.
Mon–Fri 08:00–17:00 EAT. Replies within 4 hours on business days.