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.
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.
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.
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'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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
An explainer on cold calling for hotel sales teams, covering targeted outreach to corporate travel managers, event planners, and travel agencies to drive group and event bookings.
As AI agents run thousands of hotel searches per session, the cost of being "looked at" shifts from OTAs to hotels that go direct, exposing a hidden infrastructure cost once buried in commissions.
Kollective argues hotels are tracking too many low-value AI prompts and should focus on destination-contextualised, commercially meaningful queries to influence actual booking behaviour.
With 33% of AI responses about hotels containing factual errors and only 16% of hotels appearing in AI recommendations, the article outlines six steps to make hotel websites AI-ready and drive direct bookings.
A fractional CMO argues that hotel tech vendors over-invest in product features while underinvesting in marketing, citing data showing winning SaaS companies spend 44% on sales and marketing vs. 31% on product.
Amadeus' Travel Dreams 2026 research shows travelers pay more when hotels deliver relevant, personalized experiences, making AI-powered personalization a direct driver of conversion, spend, and loyalty.
OTA CEOs at Booking Holdings and Expedia have publicly positioned their companies to own the conversion layer of AI-driven travel discovery, while hotels invest in eligibility infrastructure that feeds demand into OTA-controlled funnels.
Lighthouse research finds 82% of AI hotel recommendations draw from OTAs and editorial media, meaning press coverage in outlets like Condé Nast Traveler now directly drives booking visibility, not just brand awareness.
Google's AI Max for Search shifts campaign logic from keyword matching to intent-based probabilistic targeting, removing direct marketer control over ads, landing pages, and audience selection.