Will AI and LLMs disrupt travel distribution? Can OTAs and the GDS like Sabre survive the coming onslaught or will some of them emerge as dominant players in the new AI-enabled world?
To build on your points… the biggest source of value for OTA’s will be non-GDS connected hotel inventory. Beyond the top ~85k hotels, there is a huge range of PMS and inventory definition and someone (an ota) will have to normalize that. It’s the same part of the market where booking.com once found an. Advantage over Expedia where it was the first to bring that inventory online.
Very smart.
To build on your points… the biggest source of value for OTA’s will be non-GDS connected hotel inventory. Beyond the top ~85k hotels, there is a huge range of PMS and inventory definition and someone (an ota) will have to normalize that. It’s the same part of the market where booking.com once found an. Advantage over Expedia where it was the first to bring that inventory online.