A number of hotel chains are looking to recapture the control of their bookings from online travel agencies.

Top industry figures, including Hilton’s chief executive, Stuart Bollenbach, have issued a warning to the e-travel operators that hoteliers are prepared to invest in their own booking systems.

The call was made at this year's International Hotel Investment Forum, held in Berlin earlier this month.

The hotels are following the example of an increasing number of airlines who have cut out online brokers by improving their own online booking facilities instead.

Earlier, Bollenbach accused one of the brokers, Expedia, of marking up the prices of rooms by up to 30 per cent.

It is estimated that hotels could be losing around £542m a year through middle-man payments to online brokers.