Now, in a courageous initiative set to shake up the tourism market, industry heavyweights with a background in tech are backing a bold new startup, DirectBooker. Former Tripadvisor CEO Steve Kaufer and former Google Travel chief Richard Holden have come together to create a company that aims to take on traditional online travel agencies (OTAs) such as Booking. com and Expedia, by plugging hotel listings directly into artificial intelligence (AI) models like ChatGPT and Google Gemini. Their goal is to change the way travelers search and book for lodgings, and even remove the middlemen — OTAs, which have been dominating the market for so many years.

A new trend among the destinations where technology and innovation are changing how the customer experiences come to town. In particular, the ability to use AI and large language models (LLMs) to improve the hotel booking process could have a significant impact on the way that consumers interact with travel services, potentially making hotel booking quicker, more personalized and even cheaper.

Inspiration for DirectBooker can be found at a time when travelers increasingly demand more direct, easier, and more personalized booking choices. In eliminating the OTAs, which have long charged hotels a hefty commission, the startup hopes to offer both customers and hoteliers a cheaper and more direct way to book and list stays.

DirectBooker Steps to the Plate: the ambitious plan to cover the hotel market

The premise behind DirectBooker is pretty simple if equal part audacious. It is aimed at making the ecosystem more efficient, by cutting out the middle man, working directly with hotels and using AI tools to distribute hotel listings. For now, most travelers book through OTAs like Booking. com and hotels.com as well as Expedia and Airbnb to secure a place to stay. These are some of the most popular platforms in the industry, but they all have major downsides, such as large commissions, opaque pricing and limited control over the customer experience for hotels.

With DirectBooker, hotels could potentially avoid intermediaries and directly list their rooms with AI like ChatGPT. This would allowing travelers to query AI-enabled platforms for its best suggestions, according to their needs (i.e. location, price range, amenities), but then book directly with the hotel. The founders think this will result in more price transparency, better service to the customer and less dependence on those OTAs.

Linking hotel inventory directly to AI platforms, DirectBooker could also enable more personalised recommendations on the basis of, for example, a traveller’s bespoke requirements, something mobile OTAs with their broad search algorithms can often fail to deliver.

How AI is Influencing the Future of Hotel Bookings

Using A.I. to help people book hotels isn’t necessarily a new concept. But the fact that DirectBooker wants to plug directly into AI tools, such as ChatGPT and Google Gemini, says that a new phase in the rise of the personalized travel experience is on the rise. Artificial Intelligence has potential to transform the way we look for travel experiences with customized suggestions using a traveler’s history, preferences, even mood all given in the moment.

For example: someone could ask their AI assistant, “Show me a beachfront hotel in Goa for under ₹10,000 a night”, and the system would respond with personalized results across availability, cost, and user reviews. It wouldn’t just make booking easier, it would give travelers the chance to see more and make a decision, rather than being bound by what are essentially the limited options traditional OTAs provide.

Moreover, AI can greatly improve the traveler’s experience by offering them the latest information on hotel availability, promotions, and even live customer support. It might even provide more travel-specific recommendations: say, a good local restaurant and a nearby attraction or two, cementing a more complete travel itinerary. With the development of AI coming along at an unprecedented place, platforms like DirectBooker are going to become even more fantastic and integrated solutions.

The Battle Against OTAs

The main problem for DirectBooker?…legacy OTAs like Booking. com, which have spent years fostering relations with both hotels and travelers. OTAs enjoy brand awareness, user confidence, and global reach as huge edge. For DirectBooker to work, it will need hotels to believe it’s better to skip OTAs. This entails removing potential fear of loss of exposure, as so many lodging companies are dependent on the wide advertising reach OTAs provide across international markets.

“It will not be easy,” admits Sanjay Vakil, co-founder and CEO of DirectBooker. “The default is going to be for the OTAs to win again,” he said. “And I’d like to pre-empt that result. “But it’s going to be more than three people to do that, so we’re looking to grow a little bit.”

Vakil, who has a history of working in product management after time at Google Travel and Tripadvisor, is running off the bat to make DirectBooker a big contender. The dream of the team is to ensure it is a win-win situation for the hoteliers and the traveler – it is a more transparent and affordable option compared to OTAs and also a better option as far as the experience of the traveler is concerned.

Effects on the Tourism Sector

For tourism and hospitality industry the appearance of DirectBooker may have huge consequences! In the short term, you might see another example of the ways hotels are being forced to change as they start to circumvent OTAs for bookings, choosing to deal with customers directly, rather than using the OTAs to make hotel reservations. That would mean reduced costs for hotels, and possibly cheaper stays for travelers, as the middleman is cut out.

Additionally, booking systems underpinned by AI are set to make the market even more competitive, making it simpler for consumers to find the exact type of accommodation to suit their individual requirements. That in turn could force traditional OTAs to up their game, enhance their own offerings and remain competitive. With advances in AI in the future, we can only imagine more innovation in the form of how users are introduced to and paying for their trips with more integrated experiences across AI platforms, mobile apps and website interfaces.

It is also a great solution from tourism’s point of view – more individual offers, (hopefully) lower prices and custom made travel. It could also serve to further guide hotels to better serve the increasing demand for sustainable and responsible travel through eco-friendly lodging, local sustainability initiatives, and the like.

Potential Risks and Concerns

But as promising as it is, there are several downsides to the way DirectBooker is doing things. And privacy could become an issue if AI systems get too embroiled in the personal lives of travelers, slurping up information about preferences, habits, and even behavioral tics. Only if hotels and guests can be reassured that their data is in good hands will all this computational power be harnessed for good. There’s also the concern that AI booking might further reinforce algorithmic decision-making about travel, shutting out a broad variety of options and experiences for how and where to travel.

And hotel chains and other industry giants may be unwilling to adopt such a drastic shift, especially if they perceive that the move frays relationships with OTAs that they already have or upsets their conventional methods of doing business.

Conclusion: A New Chapter in the Hotel and Travel Industry

As DirectBooker gears up to shake things up, the future of hotel booking seems set for a shake up. By using AI and partnering directly with hotels, the startup hopes to create a faster, more transparent and more personalized travel experience for customers. The challenges are a lot, but the team behind DirectBooker has the experience and vision to turnaround the tourism industry.

With the travel industry landscape in constant flux, services such as DirectBooker could be opening the door for a new generation of travellers that have come to expect convenience, customisation and value for money from their travel providers. It may be the start of a long-needed move away from old, commission-bloated booking systems toward a future where travelers have more control over, and flexibility in, selecting the ideal accommodations.

References:
Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (UK) Tourism Reports, Indian Ministry of Tourism, European Commission on Digital Innovation in Tourism, US Department of Commerce, World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC).