Beyond AI: Holistic Hotel Distribution Built on Integration, Governance, and People

The Future of Hotel Distribution Is Holistic-Not Just About AI

The latest State of Distribution report, built with input from 700+ hotel brands across 310 cities and 21,000 properties, offers a clear signal: distribution now sits at the intersection of revenue, marketing, and data. The focus is shifting from tools to outcomes-and from silos to one commercial engine.

The headline finding isn't about hype. Four out of five hotels still lose up to two workdays per week compiling manual reports. Distribution teams are getting leaner as API volume and parity headaches increase. Investment priorities center on integration, ROI, and data governance-while AI appears last on stated priority lists.

That's the surface view. Abhijit Patel, Vice President of Distribution at Choice Hotels, adds essential context: AI isn't a separate project-it's already embedded across pricing and smart distribution. The real gap is enablement. Teams need the skills and frameworks to use what's already in their stack.

What the Data Says (and What It Misses)

• Manual reporting persists: Most hotels still copy-paste across systems; fewer than 15% have fully automated reporting.
• Teams are shrinking: Headcount pressure rises as partners, affiliates, and APIs multiply.
• Spend follows fundamentals: Integration, ROI, and data governance lead; AI appears low only as a "named" priority.

Patel's point reframes the narrative: the question isn't "Are you using AI?" It's "Are your people trained to get results with it?"

From Silos to a Single Commercial System

The next stage is clear: move from isolated distribution, revenue, and marketing metrics to a shared view of commercial performance. Choice Hotels is already trending this way-higher-level commercial dashboards with drill-downs, while acknowledging property-level reporting remains manual today.

This shift lets small teams focus less on rate loading, parity policing, and data stitching-and more on strategy, partner value, and margin impact.

Action Plan for Hospitality Leaders

• Build a unified commercial scorecard: Align revenue, marketing, and distribution on shared KPIs (profit per booking, cost of acquisition, mix quality), with drill-down by channel and segment.
• Automate reporting first: Standardize data definitions, schedule data pulls, and publish daily dashboards. Aim to reclaim those two lost days per week.
• Tighten parity and rate governance: Centralize rate rules, use automated parity monitoring, and push exceptions into a clear workflow with accountable owners.
• Reduce integration drag: Consolidate to fewer core platforms, insist on modern, well-documented APIs, and budget for ongoing maintenance-not one-off projects.
• Rescope distribution roles: Treat the team as strategic product owners for channels and partnerships, not ticket takers for rate updates.
• Measure what matters: Time saved, error reduction, net revenue lift, and partner contribution margin-review monthly.

AI: Embedded, Useful, and Dependent on People

AI is already in RMS, channel managers, and analytics. The win comes from enablement: what tasks should it handle, what outputs are trusted, and how teams escalate exceptions. Invest in training, guardrails, and feedback loops so models improve where it impacts revenue and cost.

Skills to Prioritize in 2025

• Data literacy: Reading dashboards, spotting anomalies, and asking better questions of the data.
• Prompt and agent workflows: Using generative tools for reporting, QA, and repetitive analysis with clear checks.
• API and vendor fluency: Knowing how systems exchange rates, availability, and content-and where errors occur.
• Change management: Clear SOPs, measurable adoption, and rollback paths.

If you're upskilling teams on AI for reporting, pricing support, or channel ops, consider structured learning paths. See AI courses by job at Complete AI Training.

Why This Matters Now

Distribution is becoming universal across partners, affiliates, and APIs. That complexity will keep rising. The answer isn't bigger teams; it's smarter systems, better foundations, and people who know how to use them.

As Patel notes, the goal is simple: shift energy from repetitive tasks to big-picture problems and partner strategy. That shift starts with integrated data, automation where it counts, and a training plan that sticks.

Further context

The report was built with industry groups and academic partners, including HEDNA and the NYU SPS Jonathan M. Tisch Center of Hospitality. For context on standards and trends in electronic distribution, see HEDNA.

About RateGain

RateGain Travel Technologies Limited provides AI-powered SaaS for travel and hospitality, serving 3,200+ customers and 700+ partners in 100+ countries. The company processes large volumes of electronic transactions, price points, and travel intent data to support revenue management, distribution, and marketing teams across hotels, airlines, meta-search, package providers, car rentals, travel management companies, cruises, and ferries.

Founded in 2004 and headquartered in India, RateGain works with 26 of the Top 30 Hotel Chains, 25 of the Top 30 Online Travel Agents, 3 of the Top 4 Airlines, and leading car rental brands, including 16 Global Fortune 500 companies. Learn more at www.rategain.com.

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