AI Is Eroding the OTA’s First-Click Advantage — Here’s How Hotels Can Win It Back

This sponsored content was created in collaboration with a Skift partner.

Eighty percent of hotel chains are already using AI in some capacity. But most of that investment is concentrated in chatbots and automated marketing — the reactive layer of the technology stack. Meanwhile, the infrastructure that will determine whether a hotel is surfaced in conversational AI recommendations at all is still largely missing.

New research from Aven Hospitality and h2c found that only 11% of hotel organizations have deployed true AI agents capable of completing bookings, orchestrating loyalty programs, and dynamically pricing inventory in real time. The remaining 89% are optimizing for yesterday’s distribution channels while tomorrow’s are being built around them.

Aven Hospitality’s white paper, “The New Search Economy: Rewriting the Rules of Direct Booking with AI,” identifies a fundamental shift in how hotel demand is captured, with the window closing quickly for commercial leaders that have not yet adapted. Drawing on industry research and insights from hospitality leaders, the white paper examines how AI-mediated discovery is reshaping visibility, guest engagement, and direct booking strategies, and why relevance at the moment of traveler intent is becoming more important than traditional rankings or paid positioning.

“We’re moving from a world of search results to one of answers,” said Mark Hollyhead, chief transformation officer at Aven Hospitality. “AI is reshaping discovery into something conversational and contextual. For hotels, that means visibility is no longer about ranking highest, but about being the most relevant response. Distribution is no longer just about presence, but about being visible in every query, every conversation, and every moment of intent.” 

The white paper also explores how hotels are preparing for a future defined by conversational search, AI-assisted booking experiences, and intelligent personalization. From AI-ready infrastructure and connected commerce systems to tools like Aven Hospitality’s Concierge for Booking Engine and machine learning-powered retailing recommendations, the white paper reveals the operational and commercial strategies hotels are prioritizing as AI increasingly shapes how travelers search, compare, and book.

“As discovery changes, hotels need the right foundations,” Hollyhead said. “Success in the AI landscape will depend on data that’s structured and applied to systems that best represent how hotels can match the intent of the customer. I also think it’s important to remember we’re all learning here, so organizing to obsess about the data is paramount.” 

The findings underscore a narrowing window for commercial action. According to the research, 44% of travelers using AI-powered search now treat it as their primary source of travel insight — ahead of traditional search engines, brand websites, and review platforms. The white paper quantifies what that shift means for direct booking economics, and how much runway commercial leaders actually have.

In this white paper, you’ll find:

• Why AI-powered conversational search is eroding the OTA’s “first click” advantage — and what that means for direct booking strategy today
• What it actually takes for a hotel’s content and data to be readable and transactable by AI systems
• How the booking engine becomes a personalization and upselling platform rather than a transaction point
• Where the integration and organizational readiness gaps are stalling AI ROI across hotel chains right now
• What early movers like Langham Hospitality Group are learning about implementation speed, staff enablement, and measurable commercial outcomes

This sponsored content was created collaboratively by Aven Hospitality and Skift Studio.