Case Study
The real value of direct travelers goes beyond the booking itself
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New York City Market
New York, New York, the “city that never sleeps.” New York City welcomed 65 million visitors in 2025 and remains one of the world’s most visited, and most competitive, hotel markets. Heading into 2027, the opportunity is clear: domestic travel is forecasted to reach record levels, business travel is recovering, and the guests who are coming can be won directly. The Guestbook helps New York City hotels capture that demand by reducing reliance on costly third-party channels, building stronger relationships with high-value guests, and generating measurable revenue that strengthens long-term profitability.
The Situation
2027 will be a different kind of year for New York hoteliers. With no headline event like the 2026 World Cup, international travel still recovering, and Canadian visitation well below its past levels, hotels can’t rely on citywide compression to fill rooms. And with the city’s tourism marketing budget held flat, more of that work falls to individual hotels. Meanwhile, OTA commissions and digital acquisition costs keep rising. The hotels that win in 2027 will be the ones that turn steady domestic and repeat demand into direct bookings at a lower cost per guest. That’s exactly where The Guestbook comes in.
The Results
$3.5M
$447
15.08x
1,777
48%
6.7%
Hotels that partnered with The Guestbook wanted to give guests a compelling reason to book direct, reduce reliance on costly third-party platforms, and offer loyalty that delivers real value rather than another discount. The Guestbook brings these together through its cash back rewards platform and a cross-network audience of more than 4 million members, giving each hotel its own year-round source of direct demand, with no big event required. Tangible cash back gives both leisure and business guests a meaningful reason to choose direct, and New York guests respond: on average, nearly half of bookers enroll, adding more than 1,700 new members per hotel each year. The economics are just as strong. With cross-network revenue covering nearly twice the full cost of the program, New York City partners are generating incremental revenue while building a base of guests they can reach again without paying a
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