Two rooms, booked non-refundable, over 5000 francs: that was the amount a Zermatt hotelier disputed with Booking.com for four months. The guests from Mumbai had cancelled because their flight via Dubai had been cancelled after the outbreak of war in Iran. Booking.com cited force majeure and refunded the guests the full amount. The hotelier countered that a direct connection to Zurich had still existed. As htr hotelrevue reported on 16 September, the platform only gave in after «Blick» made an inquiry – and is now covering the amount it had refunded the guest.
The case is an isolated one. The question behind it is not: who actually decides whether a booking stands?
The problem in everyday hotel operations
A cancelled booking is not simply one booking fewer. The room was blocked, often for weeks, and during that time it was not offered to other guests. If the cancellation comes at short notice, it can rarely be resold at the same price. And the later it comes, the more likely the room ends up in last-minute sales – at a discount, and often again via the same platform.
Added to this is what became visible in the Zermatt case: with a platform booking, the final word on a cancellation does not always lie with the hotel. Booking.com itself states in its help centre for partners that guests do not have to pay for a cancellation in emergencies, even if they booked non-refundable. What counts as an emergency is assessed by the platform. The non-refundable rate that the hotel set up as protection is thus a protection with a reservation.
The current figures: cancellation rates by channel
The Hotelvertriebsstudie 2026 by HotellerieSuisse and HES-SO Valais-Wallis compares cancellation rates by channel. In spring 2026, a total of 171 Swiss hotel businesses were surveyed on the reference year 2025. The result:
- For bookings via Booking.com, the average cancellation share is around 21 percent.
- For Expedia, it is around 18 percent.
- For direct bookings via the hotel's own website, around 10 percent.
A platform booking is therefore cancelled roughly twice as often as a booking via the hotel's own website. The study explicitly points out that the figures vary widely between businesses – depending on booking conditions, guest segment and the flexible cancellation terms of the platforms.
For context: according to the same study, booking platforms bring 29.2 percent of overnight stays in Swiss hotels, with Booking Holdings alone accounting for around 73 percent of that. Real-time booking via the hotel's own website has grown from around 7.5 percent in 2015 to 20.9 percent in 2025. The cancellation rate thus affects the largest digital channel – and the hotel's own channel, which is cancelled the least, is growing.
The study also shows friction in billing: 19 percent of hotels occasionally or frequently report problems with platform billing. In the open-ended answers, they cite, among other things, incorrectly charged cancellation fees and delayed refunds.
What does this mean for your hotel?
1. Know your own cancellation rate by channel
Most establishments know their occupancy down to the decimal point, but not their cancellation rate by channel. Yet it is recorded in every PMS. For the last twelve months, pull two figures: cancelled bookings in relation to all bookings, separated by platform and direct booking. If you are significantly above the study's values, it is worth looking at the cause – usually the cancellation terms.
2. Set cancellation terms deliberately by channel
Flexible cancellation is a selling point on platforms. If you offer it just as generously everywhere, you invite multiple bookings: the guest reserves two or three properties and decides later. Check whether the deadlines on the platforms match your demand – differently in high season than in the shoulder season. This is a matter of settings in the extranet, not technology.
3. Reward direct booking with reliability
The study shows that hotels promote direct bookings partly with more flexible cancellation terms. That sounds contradictory at first, but it is not: those who book directly cancel less often anyway. A small concession on cancellation costs less on your own channel than on the platform – and is a tangible reason for the guest to book directly.
4. Stay in contact after the booking
A cancellation is easier when there is radio silence between booking and arrival. A confirmation that is more than a receipt, and a message a few days before arrival with a concrete note about the stay, bind the guest to their decision. For direct bookings, you have the email address for this. For platform bookings, often only an encrypted forwarding address – another reason to strengthen your own channel.
5. Document disputes and stay persistent
The Zermatt case also shows: the platform's decision is not always the final one. In disputed cancellations, record what the guest claims and what speaks against it, and insist on a reasoned response. For non-refundable bookings that you release as a goodwill gesture, it is worth checking the partner help centre: Booking.com states that in these cases it does not charge commission, provided the change is entered in the extranet in time.
Common mistakes
- Treating cancellations as a marginal phenomenon instead of regularly evaluating the rate by channel
- Offering the most generous cancellation terms on all platforms because they are supposed to improve ranking
- Considering the non-refundable rate full protection
- Not reconciling cancelled platform bookings and charged fees with billing
- Promoting direct bookings on price alone, but not on the reliability the guest gets from the hotel itself
Conclusion
On average, every fifth booking via Booking.com is cancelled again, compared to every tenth on the hotel's own website. Anyone discussing direct bookings should therefore compare not only the commission, but also how reliable a booking ultimately is – and who decides its fate. The good news: cancellation terms, follow-up contact and evaluation by channel are entirely in your hands. If you would like to know what that looks like at your property, talk to us: +41 52 566 10 19.
Quellen
- HotellerieSuisse und HES-SO Valais-Wallis, Roland Schegg: Hotelvertrieb in der Plattformökonomie, Referenzjahr 2025, Mai 2026 (Stornoquoten S. 5 und 37, Abrechnung S. 48, Direktvertrieb S. 72)
- HES-SO Valais-Wallis: Hotelvertriebsstudie 2026
- htr hotelrevue, 16.09.2026: Booking lenkt nach Streit mit Zermatter Hotelier ein
- Booking.com for Partners: Handling emergency closures
- Booking.com for Partners: Handling cancellation fees and commission
Related articles
- Preisparität in der Schweiz (what freedoms hotels have with regard to platforms)
- E-Mail-Marketing für mehr Direktbuchungen (contact between booking and arrival)
- Anforderungen an eine Buchungsmaschine (the hotel's own channel, which is cancelled least often)
