AI moves from talk to execution: Highlights from the 4th HPI Series in New York
Left to right: Jordi Serra (CEO & Co-founder at 123Compare.me), Raúl Álvarez (Global VP Digital Strategy, Innovation & eCommerce at Radisson Hotel Group), Pau Ferret (CRO & Co-founder at 123Compare.me), Mariana Heyel (U.S. Market Manager at 123Compare.me), Alejandro Martin (Business Development Manager US at Keytel), Guillem Canela (Regional Director at Keytel)
NEW YORK - The 4th Hospitality Pricing Innovation (HPI) Series, hosted by 123Compare.me with the Hotel Association of New York City (HANYC) and Keytel at Park Avenue Plaza, focused on one message: AI is already changing hotel distribution, pricing, and data operations.
Senior leaders from brands, ownership groups, and tech providers discussed how automation and data quality are now essential for direct channel growth and profitability. Participation was hands-on, with operators trading concrete tactics that teams can execute today.
Industry at a turning point
Panelists agreed hotels are moving into machine-to-machine distribution, where systems negotiate rates, availability, and conditions in real time. That shift carries operational, ethical, and strategic consequences that leaders must plan for now.
- Price integrity is non-negotiable: Protect direct channels and eliminate rate disparities as automation accelerates.
- Personalization has limits: Build offers around intent and context, not static customer profiles.
- Content is strategic: Missing languages, old images, or outdated policies push guests to OTAs.
- Automation boosts output: Real-time alerts and AI-driven reporting let revenue teams manage more properties with fewer errors.
- Control the entry point: Platforms that own the first guest interaction (Google, Apple, OpenAI) will capture most of the value.
- Experiential demand grows: AI will bundle micro-experiences into clear, bookable products with measurable ROI.
Voices from the room
Jordi Serra noted that AI has moved from theory to execution and urged hoteliers to get their data organized, strengthen content, and protect direct pricing. Vijay Dandapani of HANYC highlighted the forum's practical output, pointing to actionable guidance for the next phase of digital distribution.
From a global brand lens, Raúl Álvarez emphasized that consistent pricing earns guest trust and supports direct bookings. Keytel underlined the operational reality: AI can raise cost structures, so experience, sound judgment, and strong partnerships are key to staying in control.
What this means for revenue, distribution, and events
AI, automation, and content quality are converging. For hotel revenue leaders and event professionals, the priority is to tighten data foundations, protect parity, and own the moments that influence booking decisions.
- Establish a single source of truth for rates, content, and policies. Clean data beats clever models.
- Enforce parity with automated checks and alerts. Resolve undercuts within hours, not days.
- Run content governance like a product: languages, images, amenities, room names, fees. Review quarterly.
- Monitor meta, GDS, and OTA shelves in real time. Track buy-box wins and direct contribution daily.
- Set AI guardrails: what can change rates, by how much, and when humans step in.
- Own entry points: optimize Google Business Profiles and Apple listings; keep OTA content consistent.
- Package micro-experiences with local partners. Make them bookable, priced, and measurable.
- Upskill teams on prompts, analysis, and automation to cut manual work and speed decisions.
Immediate actions checklist
- Audit all public rates and fees across channels; fix any mismatch the same day.
- Localize core pages into your top feeder-market languages and update seasonal content.
- Deploy alerting on rate leaks, tax/fee errors, and availability mismatches.
- Define SLA playbooks for parity, overbook, and content issues with owners and partners.
- Benchmark entry-point performance: impressions, CTR, and direct conversion from metas and maps.
- Test two experience bundles this quarter and track attachment rate and margin.
- Budget for AI ops costs (APIs, vendors, monitoring) and tie them to labor saved or revenue gained.
A new era for distribution
The event confirmed what many teams feel daily: AI is now central to distribution strategy. The HPI New York discussions have been compiled into the whitepaper "The New Rules of Hotel Distribution," a practical roadmap for stronger direct channels and healthier margins. It is available for free download.
If your team is building AI capability for revenue, marketing, or operations, explore curated AI courses by job to accelerate skills and reduce trial-and-error.
