The commission rates paid by hotels in Australia had long been lower than the global average of 20 per cent to 25 per cent because Wotif had charged less than Booking.com owner Priceline and Expedia did overseas.

However, after Expedia paid $703 million for Wotif last year, it raised Wotif's rates to 15 per cent from 12 per cent and Qantas-owned Hooroo raised its rates to 13 per cent from 10 per cent.

Michael Issenberg, Asia-Pacific chairman of Australia's largest hotel chain, Accor, said his group's focus on direct distribution had increased because of the Expedia-Wotif deal.

"The cost of [online travel agents] has traditionally been lower in Australia than in other markets," he said during a visit to Sydney last week. "It is creeping up. And as it creeps up, it is even more important . . . to generate business in your own distribution channels."

Accor, whose brands include Sofitel, Pullman, Mercure and Ibis, is creating a single AccorHotels app for all the brands. It is also planning packages for loyalty members, such as $20 a day adult drinks and children's meal deals which are not available for those booking through online travel agents.

Rival Hilton Hotels is offering free Wi-Fi for loyalty program members if they book their stay directly.

Accor has also opened its distribution platform to independent hotels, providing more options for customers in cities where it does not have many of its own rooms available such as Kuala Lumpur.

"It will be less for us in Australia than in other parts of the world," Mr Issenberg said. "It will drive traffic to our website. Research has shown us the more traffic that is drawn to our website, the more we convert and the more our existing hotels will benefit."

The online travel agents are fighting back with loyalty initiatives of their own.

In May, Expedia launched Expedia+ in Australia. Travellers can earn points when booking with Expedia and there are benefits such as priority customer care and exclusive hotel amenities. Booking.com gives its top users 10 per cent off rates for standard rooms for booking hotels that are part of the program.

For online travel agents, repeat business is valuable because they otherwise have to spend a huge amount of money advertising through groups like Google and Facebook to acquire new customers.

Expedia chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi last month told analysts his company was investing heavily in its loyalty program and customer service because repeat customers accounted for most of the company's profits.

"As far as our loyalty programs, we continue to see very nice traction there," he said. "Hotels.com has got the biggest in the family as far as loyalty goes. There are over 18 million hotels.com rewards members around the globe. I think of those 18 million members since the program started, I think they've stayed in 4.5 million motel rooms for free."

Priceline chief executive Darren Huston last week said his company's most loyal customers were those who had downloaded apps from its brands like Booking.com and Agoda.

"Once you have an account, we can store your credit card securely, we can store your name, and it leads to like one-click booking," he said.

"Then our challenge becomes really, and has been, how do we bring more customers into the franchise? And that's what we use paid marketing for. But, generally speaking, our direct business continues to increase, which is a reflection generally of repeat business."