Most front-office teams track arrivals by source. Fewer teams see the same arrivals after OTA commission, payment fees, and coupon dilution. Guest channel analytics only become useful when the commercial meeting and the night audit share one definition of net contribution.
Build a simple table: rooms, ADR, commission rate, estimated net, and cancellation rate for each major source over ninety days. Direct and corporate often look quieter on volume and healthier on net. That is not an argument to abandon OTAs; it is a reason to set targets in contribution, not only in occupancy.
In District 4 and nearby riverside properties, walk-in and late direct bookings still matter on event nights. Capture them cleanly in the PMS so they do not get folded into an “other” bucket that hides a real local pattern.
When you commission a channel audit, bring invoices, not only the channel manager export. Fee lines that sit outside the booking engine are where quiet leakage hides.