There are two major developments in AI that are directly affecting hospitality as a whole and particularly hotel websites.

AI Search bots pull only 25% of AI answers from hotel website content (VertoDigital), All of the generic hotel information, descriptions of services and amenities the AI Agent platforms have already scraped from publicly available information about the hotel on the Internet or from proprietary databases.

Agentic AI does not need websites for information or to make a booking. To access hotel ARI (Availability, Rates and Inventory), Personal AI Agents will communicate directly via APIs with the hotel cloud PMS, CRS, Channel Manager, the future hotel's own AI Agent, or via MCR middleware or APIs with the OTAs.

Agentic AI in hospitality is a type of AI that makes autonomous travel decisions and performs specific tasks and goals, from travel planning, research of locations, amenities and rates, to actual booking of the hotel and all other travel components and auxiliaries to make their master's trip a success.

In the near future, the Personal AI Agents will have the option to research, plan and book travel by making a "handshake" with the newly emerged hotel own AI Agent, or with the OTA's own AI Agent. If hoteliers do not provide the option, the only choice will be the OTA Agent.

Some experts believe that, in the not so distant future, Agentic AI and AI Agent platforms will make hotel websites and mobile apps completely obsolete since AI does not need hotel websites for information or ARI.

The question is, Is AI going to make hotel websites obsolete and if yes, when?

We are already witnessing the emergence of the Personal AI Agents. ChatGPT Operator, Google Gemini AI Agent, Microsoft Copilot AI Agent, Claude AI Agent, etc. are already a fact and their travel research, planning and booking capabilities are growing by the minute.

The booking path via the Personal AI Agent will be very simple: the traveler tasks via voice or typed prompts their AI Agent to find a hotel within certain parameters (location, dates, price range) and, based on all of their "master's" preferences, the AI Agent finds and books the hotel and all necessary auxiliary services.

Hotels will provide ARI (Availability, Rates, Inventory) to the Agentic AI platforms like ChatGPT Operator via the use of AI connectivity middleware like the Model Context Protocol (MCP) and Agent-to-Agent (A2A) or via APIs to the property's CRS, Channel Manager or cloud PMS.

DirectBooker, an AI connectivity startup backed by former Tripadvisor CEO Steve Kaufer and ex-Google Travel head Richard Holden, wants to enable hotel ARI directly into AI tools like ChatGPT and Gemini, circumventing the OTAs and making hotel websites obsolete.

So, will hoteliers invest adequately in AI technology to prepare for the rise of the Personal AI Agents?

Max Starkov
Hospitality & Online Travel Tech Consultant & Strategist

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