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Hotels don't need another mega OTA, rather, they need partners who create real value. Airbnb's shift into hotels is less innovation and more defense. With Booking.com dominating STR volume and commissions rising, Airbnb is simply repositioning to stay competitive.

To be fair, one could argue Airbnb has already been functioning as an OTA for years. It facilitates transactions, controls the marketplace, shapes pricing behavior, and now they are onboarding more hotels and aligning its commission structure.

I believe we're at the point where it really doesn't matter anymore how many OTAs we have. It's gotten so bad for hotels that it almost can't get any worse — and it barely matters which one of them is draining our margins or taking over our guests.

It's abundantly clear that the US hyperscalers are unable and unwilling to regulate themselves. A $100 million pro-AI super PAC formed in August, backed by OpenAI's president, has identified its first pro-legislation target to oust.

The divergence in AI regulation is less about "innovation versus control" and more about who will define the operating system of the future economy. The US optimises for velocity and scale; the EU for rights, accountability, and systemic risk.

Yes, the gap in AI innovation and adoption will continue and expand. This disparity is less about well-intentioned policy and more about an ongoing geopolitical battlefield where technology sits squarely in the 'armed forces' of the major powers.

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.

Brilliantly articulated. This is exactly where the conversation needs to be moving forward. The era of chasing topline numbers is over, today's commercial leaders are being judged by flow-through intelligence, not occupancy percentages.

We've been having these conversations for about 20 years now. A lot has been said and published on this topic, including my own articles, podcast episodes, webinars, and even dedicated chapters in my last two books. The answer, at least to me, is obvious: until RMS providers build true profit optimization capabilities into their products (which requires proper data flow for the missing pieces of the equation), we're not going to move forward.

The ambitious vision for Total Profit Optimization is not a destination we are equipped to reach today. It's not a pipedream, but a strategic challenge demanding a phased, constructive approach. The core issue is a structural disconnect stemming from the historical focus on Rooms: The Talent Evolution: We currently possess excellent Rooms Optimizers, whose skill sets were sharpened by focused toolsets and market dynamics.