Seba BlancoI help independent hotels sell more effectively and operate smarter by combining hotel technology with sales and marketing.
Do not index
Do not index
Most hotels obsess over distribution. They negotiate OTA commissions, tweak rate parity, and pray for direct bookings. But the booking decision was already shaped long before a guest lands on Booking.com or your website. If you're only optimizing where revenue is captured, you're ignoring where it's won.
Here's how the influence funnel actually works in 2026, and what independent hotels can do at each stage.
The New Front Door: AI Search
Guests don't search anymore. They ask.
"What's a good boutique hotel near Lake Como for a couple in September?" That question now goes to ChatGPT, Perplexity, or Gemini before it ever reaches Google. And these AI engines don't return ten blue links. They return a short list of specific recommendations, often three to five properties with reasons attached.
If your hotel isn't in that answer, you don't exist for that traveler.
This is GEO (Generative Engine Optimization), and it's the new SEO. The basics: make sure your property has rich, structured content on your website. Detailed room descriptions, location context, activity guides, and clear differentiators. AI models pull from content that reads like an answer, not a brochure. Your "About Us" page matters more than you think.
Recent data backs this up. McKinsey's March 2026 ConsumerWise survey, covering France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom, found that between 59 and 74 percent of European consumers used AI tools in the past three months. Italy leads at nearly 74 percent, with France at 63 percent. Travel planning stands out as one of the top use cases: European consumers are now more likely than their American counterparts to use generative AI specifically for planning trips and special occasions.
The critical nuance here is where AI enters the journey. Consumers use these tools primarily for early-stage decision-making, not for completing bookings. They ask AI which destination fits their budget, which hotels have the best location for families, or what properties offer a particular experience. By the time they reach an OTA or your website, the shortlist is already built. If your property was not part of that AI-generated recommendation, you never had a chance to compete on price, photos, or reviews.
This pattern is accelerating in a context of tightening budgets. Only about one third of European consumers plan to "treat themselves" this quarter, down five percentage points compared to late 2025. That means travelers are not just more selective about where they go; they are more deliberate about how they research. And increasingly, that research happens through AI.
Where Desire Is Created
Before anyone asks an AI or types a search query, something made them want to travel. That spark almost always comes from visual platforms: Instagram, TikTok, and Google (through Maps, image search, and travel content).
This is the desire stage. Nobody is comparing rates here. They're scrolling, dreaming, bookmarking. A 15-second TikTok of your terrace at sunset does more at this stage than a perfectly optimized meta description.
For independent hotels, this is actually an advantage. You have something chains can't manufacture: authenticity. A real kitchen, a real view, a real story. Post it. Consistently. You don't need a content team. You need a phone and 20 minutes a week.
Where Doubt Is Removed
A guest is interested. Now they need reassurance. They go to YouTube for walkthroughs, Google Reviews for recent opinions, and Tripadvisor for the full picture.
This is the consideration stage, and it's where bookings are quietly lost. A 3.8-star rating with no management responses. A YouTube search for your hotel name that returns nothing. A Tripadvisor page with reviews from 2022.
The fix isn't complicated, but it requires consistency. Respond to every Google review within 48 hours (yes, the positive ones too). Encourage guests to leave reviews at checkout, not two weeks later when the impulse is gone. If you have the budget for one video, make it a 90-second room and property walkthrough and upload it to YouTube with your hotel name in the title. That single video can dominate your branded search results for years.
Where Revenue Is Captured, or Lost
Only now does distribution matter. The guest has been inspired, has researched, has decided. They're ready to book. And they'll do it on Booking.com, Expedia, or your direct website, whichever is easiest and offers the best perceived deal.
You already know the playbook here: rate parity (or slight direct advantage), a fast booking engine, and a clear reason to book direct. But here's the insight most hotels miss: if you've done the upstream work well, the guest arrives at your website already convinced. Conversion rates go up. OTA dependency goes down. Not because you fought the OTAs, but because you built demand they didn't create.
The Takeaway
The booking funnel has new layers, and most of them sit above distribution. If you're spending 90% of your marketing energy on OTA optimization and 10% on everything else, flip that ratio. Show up where AI recommends. Post where desire is born. Respond where doubt lingers.
The hotels that win in 2025 won't be the ones with the biggest ad budget. They'll be the ones that influenced the journey before the guest even knew they were booking.
What stage of the funnel are you strongest at? Drop us a line or share your experience.
Written by
Seba Blanco
I help independent hotels sell more effectively and operate smarter by combining hotel technology with sales and marketing.
