Source: Financial Times (paywall)
Hotels and tour operators are moving faster on proprietary platforms and loyalty programs to circumvent AI intermediaries that could otherwise capture customer relationships and booking margins. This reflects a strategic reversal—travel companies are abandoning decades-long dependence on distribution networks (OTAs, travel agents) to reclaim direct customer control before AI becomes the new distribution layer, mirroring how airlines built direct booking to escape travel agents in the 2000s.