Keep Your OTA Channels for Reach. Own Your Direct Bookings. Keep More of What You Earn.
One System for Tents, Glamping and more.
The Real Cost of Relying on OTAs for All Your Bookings
Pitchup, Hipcamp, Booking.com and Campsites.co.uk are genuinely useful. They put your site in front of campers searching their platforms, fill gaps in the calendar and bring in guests who might never have found you. That reach is worth paying for. The problem is that the commission model does not distinguish between a guest who discovered you through the platform and a guest who already knew you and just happened to book through the OTA because it was easy. You pay the same commission either way.
Building a direct booking channel alongside your OTA listings means guests who find you through your own website, return from a previous stay, or come through word of mouth can book directly — at zero commission to you. Your OTA channels keep doing what they do well. You simply stop paying commission on the bookings that were coming to you anyway.
One Calendar Across Every Channel. No Double Bookings.
The most common concern about adding a direct booking channel is managing availability across multiple platforms without double bookings. The Campsite Booking System sits at the centre and connects to every channel by two-way calendar feed. A booking on Pitchup lands in your system and blocks the dates on every other channel within minutes. A direct booking does the same in reverse. One calendar, one source of truth, automatic sync across all channels — no manual reconciliation and no risk of two guests arriving for the same pitch.
Your existing OTA listings stay live throughout and after setup. There is no disruption to your current booking flow while your direct channel is being built. Your channels connect to the new system and keep working exactly as they do now — they simply sync with a system you own and control rather than a third-party platform.
A Direct Booking Experience as Good as Any OTA
There is no reason a guest who finds you directly would choose to book through Pitchup instead of your own site — unless your booking button is harder to find or your checkout is less smooth. The Campsite Booking System gives guests a fast, mobile-friendly booking experience: real-time availability, pitch selection, optional add-ons like electric hook-up or dog fees, instant confirmation and a guest portal where they can view, amend and pay for their booking without calling you. The experience competes directly with any OTA checkout. Try it yourself in the live demo.
What Growing Your Direct Booking Proportion Is Worth
OTA commission is typically between 10% and 15% of the booking value, deducted on every reservation regardless of whether the guest found you through the platform or just used it for convenience. On a system you own, direct bookings carry zero commission. Every guest who books through your own site pays you in full.
The shift does not have to be dramatic to make a meaningful difference. If your OTA mix is sending eighty bookings a month at an average of £150 and commission is running at 12%, you are paying £1,440 a month. Shifting thirty of those bookings to your own direct channel saves £432 a month — over £5,000 a season — while the OTAs keep working for the other fifty. Read more in our guide to commission-free campsite bookings.
Personal Service and Features Built for Campsite Operators
The Campsite Booking System is built by Technophobia, a small Cumbrian software team, and supported personally. When you need something changed or a feature added, you talk to the people who built it. Our clients are campsite owners and managers, and their feedback directly shapes how the platform develops. Every feature request from a client is evaluated and, where it benefits other operators, built into the core system.
Live sites on the platform include Estuary View Escapes at Millom Pier, the motorhome aire at Whicham Parish Council near Silecroft Beach, and Hazel Mount Fellside. Each takes direct bookings commission-free, manages all its OTA channels from one calendar, and has a direct line to the team that built and supports their system. That personal relationship is something a large SaaS platform simply cannot offer.
Building Your Direct Channel Alongside Your OTAs
Getting started is self-serve. Sign up free, and our AI setup assistant can build your pitch types, seasonal pricing, deposit rules, add-ons and guest content from a plain-English description — or set it all up yourself in the dashboard. Add booking to your own website with our WordPress connector plugin, connect WooCommerce and your payment gateway, and connect your OTA channels by calendar feed. Your OTA listings stay live throughout — there is no disruption to your current booking calendar and no period during which guests cannot book through your existing channels. Prefer we handle the lot? Our optional Done-For-You setup does it all for you.
Lower Monthly Cost Than the Big Platforms
The Campsite Booking System starts free on one pitch, and after that it's £25 a month, or £250 for the year, covering 10 pitches, with extra pitches at £25 a year each and everything included — a good deal less than CampManager or Q-Book as you grow, with no commission on your direct bookings. If you are currently running channel management through a large subscription platform on top of your OTA commission, the combined saving from a lower monthly fee and eliminating direct booking commission is material from the first month. Talk to the Technophobia team and we will give you a direct cost comparison for your site's specific channel and booking mix.
Direct Bookings vs Relying Entirely on OTAs
Taking direct bookings on the Campsite Booking System
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Zero commission on bookings through your own site
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Guest contact details and data are yours permanently
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OTAs stay connected by calendar feed for reach
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One calendar, automatic sync, no double bookings
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Personal service and client-driven feature development
Relying on OTAs for all bookings
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Commission on every booking, typically 10 to 15 percent
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Guest contact details belong to the OTA, not to you
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No direct route to market to past guests
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Cost grows proportionally as your booking volume grows
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OTA platform controls your listing visibility and ranking
Direct Campsite Bookings — Questions We Hear Most Often
No. Your OTA listings stay live and keep sending bookings. The direct channel sits alongside them. You stop paying commission on bookings that come through your own site while keeping everything the OTAs generate.
Every channel connects by two-way calendar feed. A booking on any channel blocks the pitch in your system within minutes and automatically updates all other channels. One calendar, automatic sync, no manual reconciliation.
Many will, particularly repeat guests. A fast, smooth booking experience on your own site — with real-time availability and instant confirmation — gives guests no reason to go back to the OTA. The direct proportion grows season on season as your audience builds.
It's £25 a month, or £250 for the year, covering 10 pitches, then £25 a year for each extra pitch — everything included — and there is no commission on direct bookings. Talk to the team for a specific comparison against your current costs — for most active sites the saving from month one is clear. Get in touch here.
Yes. Seasonal pricing per pitch type, per-night and per-stay add-ons, deposit rules, minimum stays and mixed accommodation types are all configurable to match how your site actually runs.
By card, directly to you, through the booking. The money is yours from the start — there's no marketplace sitting in the middle.
The booking lands in your diary instantly, the pitch is held so it can't be double-booked, and your guest gets a confirmation and a personal welcome book automatically.
It's £25 a month, or £250 for the year, covering 10 pitches, then £25 a year for each extra pitch, with everything included — see our pricing. No per-booking commission, ever.
Keep Your OTA Reach. Stop Paying Commission on Direct Bookings.
Sign up free and start taking direct bookings alongside your existing OTA listings, or talk to the Technophobia team. We will show you the numbers for your site and have you live in no time.
