Sales & Marketing

This is a really thought-provoking take. I agree that metasearch isn't dead. it's evolving, quietly powering AI-driven interfaces rather than existing as a visible marketplace. The first to benefit will be those who can move fast and think at scale likely OTAs while traditional booking engines risk becoming just another costly layer.

Rather than disappearance, we're witnessing transfiguration: the logic of metasearch is alive, but its form is shifting from a visible comparison table to an invisible, integrated intelligence layer.

Simone's argument resonates strongly with me. If metasearch has dissolved into the invisible infrastructure of distribution, then the next challenge is redefining where real value lies. With conversational AI agents now capable of pre-filtering, recommending, and contextualizing travel options, simply consolidating data from various sources is no longer enough.

In the future, brands and OTAs will need to: Reduce their inventory and storytelling — so it's portable, embeddable, and instantly bookable anywhere. Invest in API-first distribution — enabling social, AI, and agent ecosystems to transact on their behalf.

That's an interesting question. However, I don't believe social media will become transactional when it comes to travel and hospitality. That doesn't mean it can't and won't become so for other industries - I can see this already happening for everyday purchases: apparel, jewelry, consumer goods, clothings, etc.

Good one! 💡 I definitely get a lot of product and service inspiration through my social media feeds. Entertainment is a big factor, but as someone tied into the hospitality sector, I particularly enjoy seeing industry offerings—whether that's cutting-edge technology or tangible experiences like hotels, resorts, and restaurants.

The end of the hyperlink economy may very well also mean the end of Google domination. Owning 92% of online searches worldwide, Google has long been in a quasi-monopoly situation, but this is shifting quickly, as people are catching on the ease of using LLM for search purposes: ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, Mistral, Deepseek...

The Fundamentals Stay the Same Discovery may shift from hyperlinks to AI answers, but advertising still rests on the basics: segmentation, targeting, positioning, and brand building. These don"t vanish when the funnel compresses — they adapt.

The investment won't be any less; maybe more. The search landscape, whatever its form, will inevitably migrate back to Google, a shift that the introduction of Gemini inside the browser will only accelerate. If the OTA model is truly sidelined, Google may look to take a significant portion of that revenue stream for itself.

It was inevitable that we would move to conversational AI and on-demand UI. The writing was on the wall years ago. Hotels will be caught off guard as OTA AI agents beat them without mercy at the pricing game. It’s time to build a defensive tool.

We will still need beautifully designed websites and flows — but more as validation layers and brand showcases than as discovery engines. OTAs and suppliers will increasingly serve as structured data ecosystems rather than pure UX-driven platforms.

Are we moving to a future - interesting... Though, you remove glossy images and brand (the websites of today), don't we just return to the flat green text screens of travel agents past, but this time operated by AI? Where description and detail was the important asset to capture interest and convert the booking?

The industry average of 5-10% of total revenue makes sense for budgeting purposes. What's more important is HOW you spend your budget. Comparing a hotel's marketing budget ratio to Expedia is apples to oranges; hotels are in the service sector whereas OTAs are tech businesses.

According to HotelMarketingWorks.com, most hotels allocate between 4-8% of their total revenue for marketing activities. New hotels: 10% of projected revenue Established properties: 4-6% of actual revenue Luxury hotels: Up to 8% of revenue Seasonal adjustments are also recommended as follows: High Season: Increase budget by 20-30% Shoulder Season: Maintain regular budget Low Season: Reduce budget by 20-30% or redirect to advance bookings

The question of what percentage of total revenue should hoteliers be spending on marketing should not be answered by comparing with OTA, but rather by looking at product lifecycle and corporate goals. By product lifecycle, we mean where the hotel is standing in terms of lifetime existence: launching stage, early growth, maturity, descaling or declining?