Sales & Marketing

AI can certainly do a lot of things and holds great promises at various levels in business and tourism. But let's not kid ourselves - OTAs are way ahead of the game not only in providing great platforms to book on - UX, imagery, etc.

I spoke at a conference in Norway last week and had the privilege of attending a keynote by Terry Jones. He said something that really resonated with me: "AI is the new UI." In traditional UI, the focus is primarily on how users interact with a system.

Ever the optimist, I believe that travelers are becoming increasingly aware of the benefits of booking direct, be that securing a better room, having access to more onsite rewards or accruing points within a loyalty program. Guests want to book direct, if only hotels would give them a user experience that's as seamless and convenient as what the OTAs offer.

In my view, people who claim that the OTAs generate travel demand completely ignore the complexity of the Digital Customer Journey and its five phases Dreaming, Planning, Booking, Experiencing and Sharing/Retention. According to them, the customer Journey consists of a very simplistic "cast the hook" (marketing) and "catch the fish" (booking).

The key word here is GENERATE versus STIMULATE. Generate implies production versus stimulate means raising the level or encouraging development. So, do the OTAs produce demand? Well, they are a distribution vehicle, not a producer.

In May 2023, during their annual Expedia Connect event in Seattle, Expedia shared recent insights from this latest "Path to purchase" report, due for publication this summer. At the inspiration stage, for example, we see that OTAs are NOT the main online source.