The verdict in three sentences
For a five-hotel group, a multi-property group website with a direct booking engine costs 60,000 to 120,000 SGD in Singapore in 2026, or 60,000 to 110,000 TND in Tunis, delivered in 12 to 16 weeks. The engine is paid either 1 to 3% per night or a flat monthly fee (300 to 600 TND, roughly 500 to 1,500 SGD in Singapore), far below the 15 to 18% commission Booking takes. A realistic +10 points of direct-booking share is enough to pay back the project within months.
The real cost of OTA dependency
In leisure and city hotel groups, online travel agencies (Booking, Expedia, Agoda in Asia) and tour operators often account for 55 to 70% of room nights. Each OTA booking costs 15 to 18% of the amount, plus visibility programmes such as Preferred that sometimes push it to 20%. The existing web presence, often one site per hotel built at different times, does not convert: no prices shown, no online payment, missing language versions.
A group website unifies the brand, showcases every property with a shared search by destination and dates, and pushes guests to book direct with concrete perks: best rate guarantee, free breakfast, upgrades subject to availability.
| Sales channel | Cost per booking 2026 | Guest data captured | Rate control |
|---|---|---|---|
| Booking.com | 15 to 18% of the night | Partial, masked e-mail | Low (rate parity) |
| Expedia / Agoda | 15 to 20% | Partial | Low |
| Tour operator | 25 to 35% off public rate | None | Fixed annual contracts |
| Direct site, commission engine | 1 to 3% | Full, with consent | Full |
| Direct site, subscription engine | 300 to 600 TND / 500 to 1,500 SGD per month | Full | Full |
| Phone and WhatsApp | Staff cost | Full | Full |
What a 60,000 to 120,000 SGD budget covers
The gap between low and high end depends on the number of languages, the depth of the PMS integration (Opera, Mews, Cloudbeds) and the volume of content per property. In Singapore, groups also weigh integration with a channel manager such as SiteMinder and compliance with the PDPA for guest data. In Tunis, an Arabic version with a full RTL layout adds about 20% to front-end development.
| Item | Tunis 2026 (TND) | Singapore 2026 (SGD) |
|---|---|---|
| Strategy, UX and group architecture | 8,000 to 14,000 | 8,000 to 15,000 |
| Design and digital brand guidelines | 10,000 to 18,000 | 10,000 to 20,000 |
| Multi-property development | 22,000 to 40,000 | 22,000 to 45,000 |
| Extra language (Arabic RTL or Chinese) | 6,000 to 12,000 | 5,000 to 10,000 |
| Booking engine and PMS integration | 6,000 to 12,000 | 8,000 to 15,000 |
| Photos, video, multilingual copy | 8,000 to 14,000 | 7,000 to 15,000 |
| Total | 60,000 to 110,000 | 60,000 to 120,000 |
Also plan a launch budget for metasearch (Google Hotel Ads, Trivago): around 3,000 to 6,000 TND per month in season in Tunisia, or 4,000 to 10,000 SGD in Singapore. Without traffic, even the best engine stays empty.
Mini case study
Leïla, marketing director of a five-hotel group in Tunis, Hammamet and Djerba, generates 30 million TND in room revenue, 60% of it through OTAs. She invests 85,000 TND in the site and picks an engine at 2% commission.
If the group moves 10 points of sales share from OTAs to direct, or 3 million TND, the saving per dinar shifted is about 17% minus 2%, i.e. 15%. Annual gain: 3,000,000 x 0.15 = 450,000 TND. Even after 50,000 TND of metasearch and marketing, the site pays back in under three months of high season. A Singapore group with 40 million SGD in room revenue applying the same logic would save about 600,000 SGD a year against a 90,000 SGD build. 2026 orders of magnitude, to refine with the group's actual OTA contracts.
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FAQ
One site per hotel or a group site?
A group site with a dedicated page per property costs 30 to 40% less than five separate sites and concentrates SEO authority. It also enables cross-selling, for example offering Djerba when Hammamet is full.
Commission or subscription for the booking engine?
Below roughly 15,000 TND (about 6,500 SGD) of direct bookings per month per hotel, a 1 to 3% commission is often cheaper. Above that, a flat monthly subscription wins.
Does rate parity with Booking forbid cheaper direct rates?
Contracts often require public parity, but member-only perks (breakfast, member rate at 5 to 10% off) remain widely used. Check your clauses before launch.
Is an Arabic or Chinese version really worth it?
In Tunisia, Arabic-speaking guests from Tunisia, Algeria and the Gulf often make up 20 to 35% of room nights. In Singapore, a Simplified Chinese version serves a large share of regional travellers. The extra 5,000 to 12,000 is quickly absorbed.
How long before direct sales move?
Results usually appear in the first season, with 3 to 5 points gained in year one and 8 to 12 points after 18 months of steady campaigns.
Let's scope your project. Tell us the number of properties, your PMS and your current OTA share: we will price a group site between 60,000 and 120,000 SGD (60,000 to 110,000 TND) with a 12 to 16 week schedule. Detailed quote within 48 h. WhatsApp +221 77 596 93 33.
Mohamed Bah
Fondateur, Kolonell
Passionate about digital and entrepreneurship in Africa, Mohamed has been helping Sénégalese businesses with their digital transformation since 2020. Founder of Kolonell, he believes every SME deserves a professional and accessible online présence.
