554 Moana Court Motel cuts OTA bookings reliance from 41% to 22% with help from SiteMinder

OPERATIONS

554 Moana Court Motel is a 10-unit motel in Invercargill, New Zealand, offering well-presented rooms at a fair price. Families, sports teams, corporate travellers and tradies are all amongst the guest segments that enjoy the hospitality on offer. The location suits both business and leisure stays, with Invercargill just two hours’ drive from Queenstown and Fiordland, a short hop by plane or ferry from Stewart Island, and about an hour from the Catlins.

Why it matters: Commission fees taking too much of a toll.

For a small motel, every booking that arrives through an online travel agency (OTA) carries a commission. Before SiteMinder, 554 Moana Court Motel was relying heavily on those channels. That was a risk for a 10-unit property where margins matter, especially as the cost of running a motel kept climbing.

Top 3 Core Objectives: With a fresh website in place, the motel wanted a platform that could support its push for direct business.

Automate real-time channel updates: Manage its rates and availability across all its online sales channels.
Attract more direct bookings: By placing the motel’s own rates in front of travellers on metasearch sites such as Google, Tripadvisor and Trivago. Guests can then book directly rather than through a third-party.
More channels, less admin: Connecting to and managing additional booking channels from a single contract.

Innovators Mentioned

554 Moana Court Motel

SiteMinder

Paul Calvert

Manager

554 Moana Court Motel

"We were getting a disproportionately high percentage of our bookings from OTAs. When we redeveloped our website, we thought it would be a good opportunity to try something new to help drive more direct bookings."

Paul Calvert

Manager

👍 Manager Paul Calvert said that A website redevelopment gave the team a natural moment to rethink how guests find and book the property.:

"We were getting a disproportionately high percentage of our bookings from OTAs. When we redeveloped our website, we thought it would be a good opportunity to try something new to help drive more direct bookings."

⚖️ The selection process: During their research process, Paul Calvert evaluated SiteMinder's product differentiators, customer support, and holistic value as a strategic partner and ultimately decided that SiteMinder was the best fit solution:

Manager Paul Calvert said, about their decision: "It’s a useful tool to check where we are at in relation to our competitors, however we like setting rates based on what we believe our rooms are worth too."

📈 The results: The motel’s input costs have risen significantly over the past two years. Shifting bookings away from OTAs whilst maintaining occupancy rates has reduced the commission it pays, which has kept room rates competitive without passing the full cost increases on to guests.

OTA bookings fell from 41% of bookings in 2024/25 to 30% in 2025/26, reaching 22% in 2026/27 year to date.
Total revenue increased year on year, while profit remained steady.
Channels Plus manages additional booking channels from a single contract, cutting the admin and channel set-up load for a small team.