In the interview series I had the opportunity to conduct here for Dinport.ro alongside Deniz Emin Tüfekçi—an indisputable benchmark in understanding the tourism market and agency management—we frequently dissected how international tourist flows and business strategies are reshaping under the pressure of globalization. A central idea from those conversations remains profoundly relevant today: in tourism, technology is merely the vehicle, but the direction and profitability are driven exclusively by the quality of management and the depth of the strategies applied.
Today, we continue this deep dive into the inner workings of the hospitality industry by publishing an exceptional editorial that has rapidly gone viral across international professional communities. The text is written by Erdal Kurtuluş, a highly respected specialist and Turkish consultant with over 35 years of experience in hotel management.
Kurtuluş hits right at the core of a major vulnerability affecting operators in the digital era: the critical confusion between merely owning an online system and actually knowing how to manage it to yield real profit. It is a mathematical, direct, and incredibly lucid breakdown that we bring to local managers and entrepreneurs looking to understand where a property’s revenue is silently slipping away. We invite you to read his full analysis below.
Running a Hotel Without Understanding Online Sales
by Erdal Kurtuluş
Everyone in the tourism industry talks about online sales. Booking.com, Expedia, Agoda, Hotelbeds, wholesalers, channel managers… The systems have multiplied, and the screens have changed.
But the fundamental question remains the same:
Who is actually managing these systems?
Entering a price into Booking.com is not sales management. Using a channel manager does not mean you understand digital distribution. Receiving reservations from Hotelbeds does not mean you understand B2B business.
Using a system and managing a system are two completely different things.
Today, many hotels have the technology, but lack the knowledge.
Consider a simple example:
- B2C price: €100
- B2B price: €85
- Wholesaler price: €75
The problem is not that these prices are different.
The problem begins when the hotel does not know where these prices come from, who receives them, or how much the final customer actually pays.
Then one day, a room priced at €120 on the hotel’s own website appears on another channel for €100.
The manager is surprised:
“We never gave that price!”
So who did?
That is where the real problem in hotel management begins.
A hotel that does not understand its distribution chain, read its contracts, calculate commissions and markups, or track net rates cannot control how its rooms are being sold in the market.
And then, it blames the OTA, the agency or the system.
But sometimes the problem is not the system.
The problem is the person managing it.
Occupancy Is Not Success
A hotel may be 90% full.
But at what price?
Through which channel?
How much commission was paid?
How much money actually remained with the hotel?
If there are no clear answers, 90% occupancy is simply a good-looking number.
Because sometimes 75% occupancy can be more profitable than 90%.
The goal of hotel sales can no longer be simply to fill rooms.
The goal must be to sell to the right customer, through the right channel, at the right price.
The phrase “The hotel is full anyway” is one of the most expensive sentences in the industry.
If a room sold for €70 could have been sold for €95, the €25 difference is lost revenue.
It may look insignificant in a single reservation.
Across hundreds of reservations, however, it becomes a serious amount of money.
And the worst part?
This money is not stolen from the cash register.
It quietly disappears from the profit.
The Sales Mindset Must Change
In the past, people expected sales managers to visit agencies, make phone calls, negotiate contracts and bring in groups.
Today, that is no longer enough.
A modern sales manager must understand B2B, B2C, wholesalers, commissions, markups, net rates and channel costs.
Most importantly, they must be able to answer one question:
“How much does this reservation actually leave in the hotel’s pocket?”
Someone who cannot answer that question may be able to make sales.
But they cannot manage profitable sales.
Technology Is Not the Deciding Factor. People Are.
Hotels in Türkiye are investing in technology.
They buy channel managers, PMS systems and revenue management systems.
But the people who are supposed to manage these systems are often treated as an afterthought.
Then, when the technology fails to deliver results, the technology gets the blame.
But technology alone is not the solution.
The right system in the hands of the wrong person can cost more than a simple system managed by the right person.
Today, a hotel manager needs to understand more than hotel operations.
They need to understand sales, distribution, pricing and data.
Because modern hotel management is no longer simply about selling rooms.
It is about managing revenue.
The Bottom Line
In tourism, the question “How many rooms did we sell?” is no longer enough.
The real questions are:
“At what price did we sell them?”
“Through which channel?”
“And how much did we actually keep?”
“Through which channel?”
“And how much did we actually keep?”
Giving prices without understanding B2B, signing contracts without understanding wholesalers, treating a channel manager as nothing more than a price-entry screen, and celebrating occupancy without calculating commission…
That is not online sales.
It is simply using online systems.
The industry needs to understand the difference.
Because in modern hotel management, the cost of ignorance is no longer seen at the reception desk.
It comes directly out of the profit.
And perhaps this is the question every hotel manager should be asking today:
“Are we really doing online sales, or are we simply using online systems?”
The difference could determine the future of a hotel.
About the Author:
Erdal Kurtuluş is a renowned international hospitality specialist and consultant with a career spanning over 35 years in Hospitality & Restaurant Development Management. Widely recognized across the industry for his expertise in Revenue Management and digital distribution channel auditing, Kurtuluş is an active prominent figure within key professional associations in Türkiye, including the Hotel Association of Turkey (TUROB) and the Tourism Hotel Managers Association (TUROYD). Through his practical analytical insights, he provides strategic counsel to both independent hotels and major hospitality chains aiming to convert their digital infrastructures into real, measurable profitability.
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