The AI Effect (Part 1): The Future of Travel Distribution

Travel Tech Insider

Generative AI has upended just about every part of the travel lifecycle for both buyers and sellers of travel services. From the consumer perspective, the resources available to inspire, research, plan, book and share your favorite trips have simultaneously expanded the possibilities for consideration and curated that consideration set to a handful of suggestions — all in a matter of seconds.

From the perspective of those selling travel services, that path to reach your buyers has become exponentially more complicated. The old reliable model of online search (primarily through Google) has a half life that is accelerating faster than anyone could have predicted. The promise of agentic AI in the hands of consumers may feel more like a curse to travel suppliers who haven’t yet figured out how to be relevant to the constantly evolving LLMs.

At the same time, traditional SEO- and SEM-based acquisition channels, which have been economically dominated by the OTAs for a generation, are now being replaced by this new algorithmic approach of the proliferating LLMs, providing an opening for direct booking channels that could level the playing field. Likewise, the fine-tuning that AI tools provide to brands for optimizing pricing, offers and channels could be an opportunity…or a race to the bottom.

We’re still in Act I of this AI era, and we’ll talk to a couple experts for their take on where we are and where we are headed.

Follows

Gilad Berenstein – host

Cara Whitehill - host

Layton Han — guest

Christian Watts — guest

Go Deeper

• Remapping Travel with Agentic AI - McKinsey & Company
• Altimeter Capital Partner Says AI Will Transform Travel Search: ‘It’s Already Happening’ - Skift [$]
• How hotels should be thinking about their visibility on AI platforms - PhocusWire
• Forget the funnel. Welcome to AI: The new distribution channel - CoStar
• The Great Tech Reset: Agentic AI and the Coming Rebalance of Power in Hospitality - Hotel Online