There's no universally right first channel — but there is a wrong way to decide, which is picking whichever one a friend mentioned last.
Airbnb: trust, but on their terms
Airbnb brings guests who already trust the platform, which lowers your bar for getting a first booking. In exchange, you're competing on reviews and photos inside their algorithm, and payouts land on their schedule, not yours.
Booking.com: volume, at a cost
Booking.com tends to bring more transactional, less brand-loyal guests, often at a higher commission than Airbnb. It's a strong volume channel once you have enough of a track record to rank, but a slower first channel if you're starting from zero reviews.
Direct: the one that compounds
A direct booking site converts slowly at first — you have no audience yet — but every guest who books direct costs you no commission and is a guest you can market to again next year. It's not a replacement for Airbnb or Booking.com early on; it's the channel that gets more valuable the longer you run the property, which is exactly why it's worth setting up on day one even if it does nothing for months.
The practical order
Start on one OTA to get real bookings and reviews fast. Stand up your direct site in parallel — it costs nothing to have live even at zero traffic. Add a second OTA once the first is generating consistent, well-reviewed volume, not before.