Travel customer acquisition moves to private treaties
According to Skift, the way travelers are being captured is changing from top to bottom. AI in search engines is shrinking the open channel where travel companies used to buy customers. So the big players are negotiating private deals to swap loyalty member databases among themselves.
This is not some minor experiment. We are talking about airlines, hotel groups and OTAs passing loyal customers to each other without going through Google or metasearch. For hoteliers, the takeaway is clear: whoever has a strong database and knows how to negotiate with other big players gets access without depending on open traffic.
I see a huge opportunity here for chains with strong loyalty programs and a wake-up call for the independent hotel. If you do not have your own volume, you need to partner up or find a way into those closed circuits. Distribution is moving to the back office.
Quick questions
¿Qué son los private treaties en viajes?
¿Por qué se están moviendo a private treaties?
¿Cómo afecta esto a los hoteles independientes?
¿Esto sustituye a los OTAs?
¿Qué estrategia debería seguir un hotel?
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