Seoul, Monday, 22 September 2025.
Last Sunday, refreshed Booking.com landmark pages for Efteling (Netherlands) and Lotte World (Seoul) made visible a striking concentration of third‑party OTA inventory around major theme‑park catchments — a practical, public proxy for local room supply, channel mix and shopper behaviour as of September 2025. For retail and hospitality strategists this matters: heavy OTA presence can erode direct‑booking leverage and margin control, while also exposing real‑time intelligence on room types, ancillary bundling and seasonal availability that fuels smarter yield decisions. The immediate implication is strategic: combine these OTA snapshots with direct‑channel booking curves, transient vs. group segmentation and price‑sensitivity metrics to test the business case for branded on‑site hotels, preferred partner programs, or targeted channel promotions. Treat Booking.com listings as an actionable signal for distribution renegotiations, package integration and capital allocation — but validate findings with internal performance data before altering pricing or development plans.