Hotels being directly bookable or bookable through other travel systems is a core feature of the hotel business model. Many industries go through this, especia

Hotels being directly bookable or bookable through other travel systems is a core feature of the hotel business model. Many industries go through this, especially retail. It's cyclical. - The business establishes its brand and develops a loyal following. - Some consultant or middle manager or other rocket surgeon decides "We should be everywhere! Then we'll sell more!" - Increases sales for a little bit, then it doesn't because the product becomes a commodity that people can get anywhere, and so people start buying the competitors because the they're all viewed as being the same, since they're everywhere and right next to one another on a web site or store shelf. The company then has to compete on price rather than quality while still paying the middlemen, causing profit margins shrink. - Management realizes it's bought into a bunch of lies, and starts to let the co-marketing agreements expire so that it can get better control of its product. - New generation of managers come in and repeat the same mistake.