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From conversational discovery to distribution: how Artificial Intelligence is changing costs (and what to do now)
AI is accelerating travel discovery: travelers are asking conversational assistants where to go, when to leave, and which hotels to choose. AI booking is not yet the norm—issues of trust, payments, and regulation are slowing conversion—but this transitional phase is a window of opportunity to modernize data, content, and channels before the new gatekeepers consolidate.
With launch partners such as Booking.com and Expedia integrated into AI assistants, hotel visibility is likely to pass almost entirely through intermediaries. The interface is more conversational, but the hotel appears via OTA, losing control and differentiation. Meanwhile, acquisition costs have already grown by over 30% in recent years; when AI platforms are monetized (premium placements, partnership levels, usage fees), new layers of expense will be created that OTAs are unlikely to absorb.
🧱 2) The three technical barriers that slow down “direct”
Today's hotels cannot connect directly to the most complex AI systems with the same resilience as large intermediaries. Why?
High-frequency speculative queries overload hotel systems.
Non-standardized room attributes: AI struggles to interpret them.
Slow response times: they interrupt the flow of conversation expected by the user. Until the fundamentals of inventory are updated, OTAs—designed for high volumes—will maintain a structural advantage.
⏳ 3) Window of opportunity: move before monetization
AI planning is growing across all markets and demographics, but direct conversion is still slow: trust, payments, and regulations are holding back “book now.” Translation: there is little time to modernize data and strategy before conversational assistants become definitive gatekeepers that are more expensive to maintain.
Here are the priority actions to prepare without burning through your budget:
Standardize room attributes (view, size, amenities) in a machine-readable way: this helps AI agents find and interpret you correctly.
Improve content quality and inventory structure: clear pages, consistent data, structured FAQs; these are “fuel” for AI summaries.
Strengthen the direct booking ecosystem: fast UX, visible benefits, instant messaging; reduce dependence on channels that could monetize the intent generated by AI.
Reassess your OTA mix: maintain consistency, but avoid lock-in as you create a new level of discovery.
Monitor acquisition costs: with AI on the horizon, prevention is better than chasing fees and markups downstream.
🧮 5) The new distribution economy: what to expect (and how to defend yourself)
When AI assistants begin to monetize, every intent could pass through an intermediary with its own margins. Without a ready data infrastructure and a strong direct channel, hotels risk paying more to be seen and even more to be booked. Preparing today means reducing exposure to future fees and monitoring demand before it shifts permanently to discovery levels outside the brand.
📣 Want to contain AI costs and protect your margins?
Let's design data standards, AI-ready content, and a direct channel that converts before the new gatekeepers raise their prices.
