Visibility programs help under specific conditions and hurt under others. Most operators run them in a "set and forget" mode — enrolled across all properties, never re-tested, never compared against alternatives. That mode leaves €30k-€150k per portfolio on the table every year. The decision is not whether visibility programs work in general (they do, sometimes) but whether they work for your specific property in your specific market right now.
When visibility programs reliably help
When visibility programs reliably hurt
The 60-day test protocol
Most KAMs will not help you measure visibility-program ROI because the measurement risks an unenrollment. Run your own test. Pick a property with at least 24 months of stable demand history. Turn the program OFF for 60 days during a comparable period (e.g., off in March-April 2026 compared to on in March-April 2025). Compare: OTA-channel revenue, OTA-channel ADR, direct-channel revenue, total revenue, and total commission paid. If total revenue minus total commission is within ±2% of the prior comparable period, the program is producing no real incremental value — turn it off permanently.
This test produces actionable data per property. Most operators discover at least one property where a visibility program they had been running for years is actually a net cost — €20k-€60k of commission paid for no incremental revenue. Across a 4-property portfolio, finding two such mismatches is a €40k-€120k annual saving uncovered by 4 hours of analysis.