- Travelers rely on AI assistants to plan and book trips.
- Hotels need a digital footprint, integrated data, and AI-ready operations.
- It must offer machine-readable content across platforms.
TRAVELERS INCREASINGLY RELY on AI-based digital assistants to plan and book trips, according to a study by NYU School of Professional Studies Jonathan M. Tisch Center of Hospitality and Boston Consulting Group. In a shift from search and scroll to ask and book, hotels will compete for inclusion in a traveler’s shortlist.
The report, “AI-First Hotels: Faster to Build, Leaner to Operate and Richer in Customer Experience,” found that hotels need a stronger digital footprint, integrated data and AI-native commercial and operational capabilities. They have long balanced the benefits and costs of online travel agencies, but AI is poised to reshape customer acquisition.
“AI is changing how hotels are discovered, chosen and booked—and it’s also changing how hotels run day-to-day,” said Tom McCaleb, managing director and partner at BCG and coauthor of the analysis. “As AI assistants take on more of the shopping and planning work, hotels will need to shift from optimizing for pages and ads to optimizing for algorithmic relevance and ensure their operations can deliver on more personalized guest expectations at scale.”
Traditional tradeoffs—15 to 30 percent commissions, limited access to guest data and reduced brand visibility—may intensify as AI assistants aggregate content from more sources and surface only a fraction of recommendations.
Meanwhile, hotels aiming to remain discoverable need machine-readable digital content that answers traveler questions across platforms, the study said. They must also be ready for AI-driven distribution, where prominence in recommendations depends on new fee and placement models. Revenue management must adjust pricing and channel allocation continuously as demand shifts.
Operational strain drives AI use
AI adoption is accelerating in hotel operations as companies face labor pressure and margin constraints, the report found. Labor costs account for about half of gross operating margins and in North America, 65 percent of hotels reported staffing shortages in 2025, with labor costs rising 11.2 percent year over year.
Nicolas Graf, chaired professor and associate dean at NYU SPS and coauthor, said that hotels are under pressure to do more with less while maintaining experiences.
“AI can help remove friction from back-office work and routine tasks, freeing teams to focus on higher-value guest moments—provided the right data foundations and operating model are in place,” he said.
AI-synchronized housekeeping schedules cut room cleaning and preparation time by 20 percent, the report said. AI-enabled waste-tracking tools providing real-time kitchen analytics reduced food waste by about 50 percent in eight months. AI performance depends on integrated information on guest behavior and operations, but many hotels still use systems that do not connect.
Nearly half of hoteliers report difficulty accessing critical data and spend significant time combining reports to get a complete view, the study found. Moreover, only 2.9 percent of full-time employees in travel and tourism have AI skills, compared with 21 percent in tech and media, though AI-skilled hospitality roles are growing about 5 percent annually.
A recent study by Wyndham Hotels & Resorts found that artificial intelligence has moved from concept to business imperative, with hotel owners turning to established brands for guidance, technology, and partnerships.
