Below is an excerpt from SiteMinder’s blog.
“It’s no secret that the AI revolution has arrived, and the online hotel distribution sector has already adapted to the first ripple effects.
But OpenAI’s Operator, launched earlier this year, revived concerns about the lifespan of long-standing industry players in the wake of new technologies.
The AI agent not only reads data, but can also interact with a browser.
This means in addition to generating travel recommendations and plans, Operator can make bookings, only asking users to take over for tasks that require login and payment details, or to solve CAPTCHAs.
Adding to the momentum, Perplexity recently partnered with fintech platform Selfbook and Tripadvisor to bring hotel bookings directly into its AI-powered ‘answer engine’ – another clear sign that agentic AI is on the rise.
Currently, Online Travel Agents (OTAs) are still the biggest drivers of hotel booking revenue, having withstood and adjusted to decades of technological advances – including mobile, a revolution that many thought would leave OTAs behind and instead has seen them use to further their competitive advantage.
Yet new tools like Operator and Perplexity raise questions.
Does the advent of AI agents signal the beginning of the end for third-party bookings, or are we simply entering a new phase in the evolution of online hotel distribution? And, how can other key industry players, particularly hotels, learn from the action OTAs have already taken?”
Continue reading the full article here.
About SiteMinder
SiteMinder Limited (ASX:SDR) is the name behind SiteMinder, the world’s leading hotel distribution and revenue platform, and Little Hotelier, an all-in-one hotel management software that makes the lives of small accommodation providers easier. The global company is headquartered in Sydney with offices in Bangalore, Bangkok, Barcelona, Berlin, Dallas, Galway, London, Manila and Mexico City. Through its technology and the largest partner ecosystem in the global hotel industry, SiteMinder generates more than 125 million reservations worth over US$50 billion in revenue for its hotel customers each year. For more information, visit siteminder.com.
Maria Cricchiola
Senior Director of Brand Communications & PR
+61 2 9056 7415
