Hotels race to align with AI

A traveler asking for “a quiet hotel with a west-facing balcony” is forcing the hotel industry to rethink how it gets noticed. As tourists move from conventional search engines to natural-language AI tools, hotels must learn how to appear in a much shorter list of algorithmic recommendations.

Boston Consulting Group says about 37% of travelers now use AI-integrated online travel websites to plan and book trips. Johanna Benesty, a BCG expert, said the methods hotels use to rank well on traditional search engines differ completely from the methods needed to be selected by AI. The models themselves also operate differently.

“

a quiet hotel with a west-facing balcony

Accor, which manages brands including Pullman, Sofitel, Mercure and Ibis, has spent the past year studying how to improve its relevance to customer searches, according to Nicolas Maynard, the group’s head of AI and data science. Google may return about 50 results for a search, while ChatGPT offers roughly five options. That smaller pool makes the contest for top placement more intense.

“

a charming hotel with spa services that allows pets

The hardest requests involve subjective language, Maynard said, such as someone wanting “a romantic hotel in the south.” Accor has not classified properties according to such emotional criteria, so it is adjusting its systems to understand the meaning behind natural-language prompts.

AI can also answer detailed guest questions once integrated into hotel systems. Olivier Cohn, director of Best Western France, which manages more than 4,000 hotels worldwide, cited the ability to confirm details such as whether a power socket sits to the left of the bed. Many hotels are deploying AI chatbots to handle such questions, allowing staff to focus on higher-value services. Meanwhile, AI platforms are beginning to commercialize hotel visibility through models resembling the commissions charged by online travel agencies.

“

a romantic hotel in the south