Everyone in hospitality is talking about AI right now. Chatbots. Automation. Pricing tools. Agents.

But I keep coming back to a simpler question: who is actually managing all of it on property? Because in my experience, every “just one more thing” we add eventually lands on someone’s already full plate. AI could change the way hotels operate, but it will also change the skills required to run them. I shared a few thoughts on that in my latest post.

For years, the industry has debated what would happen if Google ever fully “entered” travel. I’ve never been convinced that’s the right question to debate.

Google didn't need to become an OTA to influence where bookings flow. And now, with AI shaping so much of how a new generation discovers and plans, Google (underpinned by Gemini) now sits in a position to guide decisions long before a hotel or OTA ever sees the guest for a booking.
That’s a powerful shift for an industry that’s spent years trying to regain control of distribution and customer data.