Trend 14: Content distribution beyond Availability, Rates & Inventory (ARI) still lags behind but hope on the horizon

As an industry, we’re obsessed with rates and parity – and while there has been more of a focus on rate integrity in Europe recently, rate distribution control remains paramount. What about the other important factor for conversion – content quality and consistency? What if you could update relevant, descriptive content quickly and with minimal effort?

During the Covid pandemic, it was crucial to quickly update the latest information about the hotels on all channels – whether it was hygiene protocols or the availability of specific facilities. This was not easy. Once the Covid pandemic was reasonably under control, sustainability attributes became a priority again. But updating them wasn’t easy either.

There is a lot to be said for better ways to update descriptive content in line with ARI and visual content – but the challenges are obvious. Many hotels have worked hard to optimise content on third-party channels to achieve higher visibility and conversion, but with a multitude of channels and multiple hotels in a portfolio, it’s a thankless task!

Other issues relate to key areas such as cancellation policies and how quickly they can be updated through third-party distribution channels.

Companies like Leonardo, ICE Portal, DHISCO, Derbysoft and major OTAs Expedia/Booking.com have been providing onward distributors with descriptive and visual content (Leonardo and ICE only visual) for years.

DHISCO Rategain has introduced what it claims is the first AI-powered content platform for the hospitality industry. The use of AI is meant to help prioritise hotel content that has the greatest impact on conversion rates. In addition, images are automatically tagged so they can be easily identified and categorised by demand partners to increase searchability.

GIATA offers a unique GIATA-ID that helps clearly identify a specific accommodation and detect duplicates, keeping the hotel portfolio in sync.

Hotelport also uses AI to monitor the accuracy of content for hotels. Hotelport’s hospitality technology will be integrated with Sabre GDS under a new agreement announced last year.

I’d be happy to see more happening in this area!