AI Reshapes Hotel Visibility: Outrigger, Remington Hotels Realign Commercial Strategy
Artificial intelligence is fundamentally altering how travellers find and select hotels, pushing property consideration earlier in the planning process. This shift compels hospitality leaders, including Outrigger Hospitality Group and Remington Hotels, to re-evaluate their commercial budgets and internal responsibilities for brand visibility, according to a recent Skift report.
AI Drives Early Hotel Consideration
Artificial intelligence tools are increasingly influencing hotel selection long before prospective guests reach traditional booking platforms or hotel websites. This development means that initial property consideration now occurs much earlier in a traveller's planning cycle, as reported by Skift on July 31st, 2026. The change compels commercial leaders within the hospitality sector to reassess how visibility is managed, how success is measured, and where marketing budgets should be allocated upstream to capture demand before it reaches conventional booking channels. Research from Curacity and Cornell highlights the urgency of this challenge, showing that 94% of hotels currently remain unlisted in AI search results. A hotel that fails to appear in these early AI-driven searches risks being entirely omitted from a traveller's potential choices, thereby generating no direct channel demand.
Internal Responsibility for Visibility Under Review
The growing influence of AI in pre-booking discovery has led to internal discussions within hotel organisations regarding who precisely owns the responsibility for ensuring a property's visibility. Jenna Villalobos, Senior Vice President and Chief Revenue Officer at Outrigger Hospitality Group, acknowledged that her company's visibility efforts are currently distributed across various teams, including product, analytics, and revenue, each managing different channels. While these functions measure and improve visibility within their specific areas, no single team holds overarching commercial accountability. Villalobos indicated that Outrigger would likely formalise this responsibility with its analytics team, given their role in data analysis and identifying opportunities. Lance Burton, Vice President of Marketing at Remington Hotels, noted that managing a diverse portfolio of properties across multiple brands adds complexity, requiring cross-functional collaboration where marketing often coordinates efforts spanning website content, technical setup, reviews, and guest satisfaction.
Strategic Investment Shifts to Upper-Funnel Engagement
As the point of hotel consideration moves earlier in the traveller's planning, the functions influencing this initial awareness are becoming more integrated. Outrigger Hospitality Group, for example, describes its commercial operations as a coordinated effort, with revenue, customer relationship management, direct channel technology, and business intelligence teams working collaboratively to adjust plans based on booking patterns. This collaboration has altered Outrigger's investment approach, shifting greater emphasis to 'upper funnel' activities designed to build demand before occupancy gaps emerge. One such investment involves a partnership with Curacity, which places Outrigger brands within third-party editorial environments. Villalobos states this strategy helps reach travellers who may not yet have decided on a destination, noting that this has helped Outrigger grow its direct business and value third-party storytelling that inspires travel planning. Both Villalobos and Burton agree that authentic content has become more valuable as AI-generated content becomes prevalent, requiring hotels to appear in a broader range of contexts beyond traditional keyword searches.
Implications for Hotels and Travellers
The shift towards AI-driven hotel discovery means hospitality companies globally, including those with a significant presence in Asia-Pacific like Outrigger Hospitality Group, must urgently adapt their commercial and marketing strategies. Hotels need to re-evaluate budget allocations, potentially moving more investment towards early-stage content and partnerships that influence AI search results and editorial placements. This requires greater cross-functional collaboration within hotel organisations to ensure a unified approach to visibility. For travellers, this change demonstrates that AI tools will play an increasingly prominent role in shaping their initial hotel choices and destination planning. The ability of hotels to appear in these early AI-influenced searches will directly impact their competitiveness and bookings, compelling the industry to prioritise strong, authentic digital storytelling and a broader presence across various online channels to capture future demand.
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