Latest / Host Planet: Airbnb, Holiday Let, and Vacation Rental Insights
OTA vs Direct Booking: What Actually Wins in 2026?
Christin Schmidt spent 20 years working inside Booking.com – and in this episode of Built to Book, she reveals exactly what most hosts get wrong about their OTA ranking, why reviews matter differently on Airbnb vs Booking.com, and how to build an OTA vs direct booking strategy that doesn't leave money on the table.
Built to Book is a six-part series from Host Planet and Smoobu, built to help hosts optimise revenue, ranking, and guest experience across every channel.
⏱️ Timestamps
1:18 What hosts misunderstand about their ranking on Booking.com
3:26 If you want to boost your ranking tomorrow…
The skinny
The skinny isn't ready yet — notes appear once the transcript is processed.