The Guest and The Agent: How Artificial Intelligence Will Reshape Hospitality Behaviors
Your next guest will arrive at your hotel without ever having chosen you. Let that sink in for a moment. While we've been obsessing over website conversion rates and mobile booking experiences, a seismic shift has been quietly building: the rise of agentic AI. It's not just another tech buzzword—it's the most profound disruption to hospitality distribution since online travel agencies emerged two decades ago. OpenAI's Operator isn't just impressive tech; it's the harbinger of an entirely new guest acquisition ecosystem. One where algorithms, not humans, make the decisions that fill your rooms. Here's what many are overlooking: this isn't fundamentally a technology story. It's a behavioral revolution that will transform how billions of global travelers discover, select, and experience accommodations. The recent debut of tools like OpenAI's Operator—an AI agent capable of browsing websites, clicking buttons, and completing bookings—marks more than just another step forward in technology. It's a glimpse into a major transformation in how travelers and hotels will connect and interact. To understand the impact, it’s important to grasp what "agentic AI" really means. Unlike familiar digital assistants like Alexa or ChatGPT that wait for us to give them commands, agentic AI takes things a step further. These AI agents don’t just respond—they act. They navigate the digital world independently, completing tasks without constant human direction, and delivering results as if they were a digital concierge working behind the scenes. Picture this: A guest’s AI agent keeps an eye on their travel calendar, notices an upcoming business trip to Berlin, and—based on past stays—automatically books their preferred room at their favorite hotel. It lines up airport transportation, reserves a table at restaurants that fit their dietary needs, and even sets the room temperature to their liking before they walk through the door. And the best part? The traveler never has to lift a finger. This is where things are headed, and it will fundamentally change our industry, and guest behaviors in ways that hoteliers must prepare for. Let’s unpack the implications. Throughout technology history, new tools have created unexpected behavioral changes. The answering machine gave us call screening. Smartphones created constant connectivity. Social media transformed how we maintain relationships. Agentic AI will similarly reshape traveler behaviors in ways that will challenge traditional hospitality models: 1. The End of Browsing Today's travelers spend hours comparing hotels, reading reviews, and checking rates across multiple sites. In an agentic world, this behavior largely disappears. Guests will delegate these tasks to their AI, which will efficiently filter options based on previously established preferences. For hotels, this means the traditional "shopping" phase of the customer journey—where brand impressions and emotional connections are often formed—could vanish entirely. The window to influence booking decisions will narrow dramatically or shift to entirely different touchpoints. 2. Preferences Become Permanent Once a traveler's AI agent knows they prefer corner rooms away from elevators, king beds with firm mattresses, and properties with 24-hour fitness centers, these preferences become remarkably sticky. The path of least resistance is to continue with what worked before. This creates both opportunity and threat: Hotels that earn a place in a guest's preference profile gain tremendous loyalty advantages, while those trying to attract new guests face a steeper barrier to entry than ever before. 3. Decision Offloading As humans, we make countless low-stakes decisions daily. What time to check in? Which restaurant to try? Standard room or upgrade? Agentic AI makes it effortless to offload these decisions. The psychological impact will be profound. Travelers will arrive at properties with fewer decisions made consciously and more made algorithmically. This shift will increase expectations for frictionless experiences while potentially decreasing the emotional investment in those same experiences. 4. The New Intermediaries Hotel distribution has always involved intermediaries—from traditional travel agents to OTAs. AI agents represent the next evolution of intermediation, but with a critical difference: they serve the guest exclusively, not the hotel. These AI agents won't be swayed by commissions, persuasive marketing, or emotional appeals. They'll optimize ruthlessly for their users' preferences, creating an entirely new dynamic in the booking ecosystem. Herein lies the central tension that hoteliers must navigate: While AI agents enable unprecedented personalization, they simultaneously risk commoditizing the hotel selection process. When AI agents make booking decisions based on explicitly defined criteria (location, price, amenities), they strip away the emotional and aspirational elements that have traditionally differentiated hotel brands. The story a hotel tells about itself matters less when an algorithm is the audience. Yet paradoxically, these same agents create opportunities for hyper-personalization once a guest is on property. When a hotel knows exactly what a guest prefers—not just room type but temperature, lighting, minibar contents, and service style—it can deliver experiences tailored with remarkable precision. So, how can hotels thrive in this new paradigm? The answer isn't simply adapting to AI agents, but rethinking the entire guest relationship in an agent-mediated world. Criteria Visibility The first imperative is understanding what criteria AI agents use to make decisions. Hotels must gain visibility into these algorithmic preferences, which will vary by platform and evolve constantly. Success will require continuous monitoring and adaptation. Smart hoteliers will hire specialists dedicated to understanding AI agent behavior just as they currently employ revenue managers to understand pricing algorithms. These "AI relationship managers" will become as vital as traditional sales teams. Experience Unbundling Hotels have traditionally sold bundled experiences—a room that comes with service levels, amenities, atmosphere, and location. AI agents excel at unbundling these elements to match precise preferences. Forward-thinking properties will embrace this unbundling, allowing guests (via their agents) to precisely specify and pay for exactly what they value. The standard hotel rate card may give way to component pricing that better matches how AI agents evaluate options. Beyond Digital Reach Perhaps most importantly, hotels must recognize that influencing AI agents will require strategies that extend beyond the digital realm. When algorithms filter digital marketing, how do you break through? The answer may lie in creating real-world experiences so remarkable that they override algorithmic defaults. A guest whose AI booked them at a predictable business hotel might be so impressed by a chance experience at a boutique property that they explicitly instruct their agent to prioritize that hotel for future trips, regardless of other factors. The Human Element Becomes More Valuable, Not Less The ultimate irony of the agentic AI revolution may be this: as more decisions become automated, the truly human elements of hospitality gain value. In a world where AI handles the transactional aspects of travel, authentic human connection becomes the differentiator. The front desk agent who remembers a guest's name, the bartender who recalls a preferred drink, the housekeeper who notices and accommodates an unspoken preference—these human touches will stand in powerful contrast to the algorithmic efficiency governing the rest of the travel experience. Hotels that view AI agents merely as a new booking channel will miss the deeper transformation occurring. This isn't just about adapting your distribution strategy—it's about rethinking the very nature of hospitality in an age where many guest interactions begin with algorithms rather than humans. Rather than prescribing a one-size-fits-all approach to the agentic future, I encourage every hospitality leader to engage with these fundamental questions: The hoteliers who thrive in the age of agentic AI won't be those with the most sophisticated technology stack or the biggest digital marketing budget. The winners will be those who understand how human behavior is changing and adapt their approach to hospitality accordingly. The future isn't about competing with AI agents—it's about creating experiences so memorable that travelers specifically instruct their agents to seek you out. In a world of algorithmic efficiency, genuine hospitality becomes the ultimate differentiator. Download the ultimate guide to choosing an AI-first hotel revenue management system.Behavioral Shifts: How Agentic AI Will Change Travel Patterns
Personalization vs. Commoditization
The Path Forward: Questions Every Hotelier Should Ask
Contact
Alan Young
VP, Hospitality Strategy, Infor
Email: alan.young@infor.com
Organization
Infor
https://www.infor.com/industries/hospitality/
641 Avenue of the Americas
USA
- New York, NY 10011
Phone: 1 800 260 2640
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