For Whom the Algorithm Ranks: What Ernest Hemingway Can Teach Us About GEO
A Hemingway-inspired perspective on Generative Engine Optimization and what hospitality brands can learn about visibility in AI-driven search.
Opinion Articles
Gen Z and the Future of Luxury Consumption
Gen Z is reshaping luxury by prioritizing experiences, authenticity, and resale over logos, with major implications for hospitality operators and goods brands competing for younger consumers.
By Emma Näpänkangas, M.Sc. Student in Hospitality Management, EHL
The half of corporate travel that's growing skips the RFP
Independent hotels can capture growing unmanaged corporate travel by loading rates into the GDS, bypassing RFPs entirely and appearing in corporate booking tools where off-channel spend is being corralled.
By Markus Busch, Editor/Publisher, hospitality.today
Winning Over OTA Guests with Trust and Convenience in the Website and CRM
Hotels can reduce OTA commissions by making their websites more convenient than third parties and using CRM data to send personalized, trust-building emails rather than generic promotional offers.
By Adam Mogelonsky and Larry Mogelonsky
The Power of a Negative Review
Research shows 31% of customers distrust businesses with no negative reviews, making how hotels respond to criticism a stronger marketing signal than five-star ratings alone.
By Shep Hyken, Customer Service and Experience Expert, Keynote Speaker and Bestselling Author, Shepard Presentations, LLC.
Beyond Tokenomics: The Threat of the Invisible Hotel
The author argues that AI citation share, not just AI query costs, is the next major distribution battleground, with data showing visibility concentrating among a small group of hotel brands across AI platforms.
By Patrick Burkhardt, Senior Director, Sales, Curacity
One Hotel in Your Market Already Owns the AI Answer
AI platforms now resolve hotel recommendations to a single dominant name per market, creating a winner-take-most dynamic that bypasses traditional attribution tools entirely.
By Andrew Paul, Managing Director, Americas Great Resorts
There Is No Single AI Ranking for Your Hotel
ChatGPT's top hotel recommendation changes 45% of the time when the same question is asked twice, with only 60% of named hotels reappearing, challenging how hotels approach AI visibility strategy.
By Lynn Patchett, Founder & Head of Marketing, Kollective
The Mapmaker's Paradox
A narrative essay argues that AI-driven recommendations are becoming the internet's new organizing principle, shifting value from clicks and search to trusted, curated guidance.
By Arlo Laitin, Chief Business Officer, Curacity
How Hotels Can Use Reviews to Book More Direct Group Business
Opinion piece argues hotels neglect review-gathering for group/MICE business, and outlines a practical SOP for capturing testimonials at peak emotional moments to win direct bookings.
By Cory Falter, Partner, Lure Agency
Ask ChatGPT About Your Hotel. Now Ask It the Question Your Next Guest Actually Asks.
Hotels that pass the name-search test on AI engines often fail category queries like "best luxury hotel in [destination]," where guest shortlists are built from third-party sources hotels rarely manage.
By Andrew Paul, Managing Director, Americas Great Resorts
Loyalty programs may be the one asset agents can't take
Major hotel loyalty programs, with hundreds of millions of members, may become the critical data asset that AI booking agents depend on, giving chains structural leverage in the agentic travel era.
By Markus Busch, Editor/Publisher, hospitality.today
Cultural Relevance in Marketing
A Conrad New York Downtown executive outlines how hotels can use destination storytelling, co-created itineraries, multilingual content, and local partnerships to build cultural relevance into their marketing.
Marriott solved the discovery problem. It traded one intermediary for another
Marriott's Google AI Mode partnership lets guests book directly inside Google's interface, bypassing OTA commissions, but cedes discovery data and risks paid "priority" placement fees as the product matures.
By Markus Busch, Editor/Publisher, hospitality.today
What HSMAI 2026 Kept Saying (Whether It Meant To or Not)
A conference recap from HSMAI 2026 in San Antonio covering four recurring themes: resilient consumer spending, commercial team alignment, AI-driven hotel discovery, and the return to hospitality fundamentals.
By Sonya Taylor, Director of Operations and Marketing, Cogwheel Marketing & Analytics
Hoteliers beware: AI versus search is a false narrative
AI is not replacing search but expanding it, and hoteliers must adapt by optimizing for conversational queries, structured data, and AI-driven recommendation engines alongside traditional SEO.
By Shearly Reyes, Media Director, Cendyn™
Hotel chains built AI for the traveler who comes to them first. That traveler is leaving
Major chains have built AI tools to defend direct booking conversions, but the discovery journey now starts on ChatGPT and Google AI, platforms brands cannot see, measure, or control.
By Markus Busch, Editor/Publisher, hospitality.today
The 2026 RFP Season Is Here – And It’s Unlike Any Before It
Amadeus-backed research finds 63% of hotels struggle to find qualified leads, urging a data-first approach to corporate RFP targeting, pre-season visibility, and post-contract account management.
By Joerg Schuler, Executive Vice President of Hospitality Commercial, Amadeus Hospitality
Culture First – The Most Important Investment We Make
HSMAI Europe President Ingunn Hofseth reflects on lessons from mentor Mike Leven, arguing that culture and people-first leadership are the foundation of lasting business success.
By Ingunn Hofseth, President & CEO, HSMAI Europe
AI-native distribution isn't a project you run
Hotels face a hard deadline on AI-native distribution as AI shopping assistants already query inventory in real time, making machine-readable availability and direct booking pipes a competitive necessity, not a future option.
By Markus Busch, Editor/Publisher, hospitality.today