Over my years of experience within the tourism industry, I have witnessed firsthand how hotels and hospitality organizations approach competition. Time and again, during meetings with general managers and marketing professionals across diverse markets, one familiar sentence echoes:

“We are investing in marketing, yet we are not seeing commensurate increases in bookings.”

This statement is not incorrect; rather, it suggests that we may be asking the wrong question.

Competition Is No Longer What It Used to Be

Traditionally, competitive advantage in hospitality was built upon factors such as physical location, service quality, and effective sales and promotional activity. These remain relevant, but they no longer constitute the core battleground for competitive differentiation.

Competition today is rooted in visibility at the decisive moment — specifically, the moment when a potential guest evaluates options and decides where to stay. This evaluation takes place across search results, digital maps, review platforms, and comparison engines. Crucially, a hotel that is not present in these critical digital spaces effectively does not exist in the eyes of today’s discerning traveler.

Visibility and Findability: Two Distinct Concepts

Many establishments believe they are “visible” simply because they maintain a website, engage in social media, or allocate budget to digital advertising. However, these activities do not automatically translate into findability — that is, being present at the exact point in the customer journey where decisions are made.

This distinction between visibility and findability is vital. A hotel may be visible in a broad sense — yet fail to appear in the specific digital contexts where booking decisions are made.

The Limits of Intuition in a Data-Driven World

The tourism industry has long thrived on intuition and experiential knowledge, a strength that should not be dismissed lightly. However, in the contemporary digital environment, intuition alone is insufficient.

We now face a set of questions that cannot be answered meaningfully without data:

• In which markets are we failing to appear, and why?

• At what point in the customer journey are we losing potential bookings?

• How do our marketing expenditures correlate with actual conversion outcomes?

These questions demand rigorous analysis rather than intuition alone.

The Role of Artificial Intelligence in Strategic Decision-Making

Artificial intelligence (AI) should not be perceived as a mere technological buzzword, but rather as a means to reduce uncertainty and improve decision quality. Properly deployed, AI can reveal:

• Where hotels are underperforming in visibility

• Which channels or interactions fail to convert prospects into guests

• How to transition from heuristic-based decisions to data-informed strategies

In essence, AI helps shift the decision-making process from subjective interpretation toward empirical evidence.

The Real Risk: Persistence in the Status Quo

One of the most concerning refrains I encounter is:

“We are already doing these things.”

This sentiment reflects activity, yes — but not necessarily effectiveness. Many hotels are engaged in initiatives that lack clarity in purpose, measurement, or outcome. In contrast, those who have embraced analytical rigor and a willingness to reframe their approach tend to exhibit the following advantages:

• Greater traction with equivalent budgets

• Higher visibility in competitive markets

• More stable performance across seasonal fluctuations

The pivotal shift lies in asking questions differently: from “What should we do?” to “Where and why are we falling behind?”

Why This Conversation Matters for the Industry

This article is not a product pitch, nor is it a sales-oriented communication. It is an invitation to engage in a critical, collective dialogue — one that transcends individual establishments and speaks to the broader structural challenges of our industry.

Whether through in-person forums, virtual seminars, or shared research, this topic warrants sustained attention.

It is not merely a trend; it is the emerging foundation of competitive advantage in hospitality.

Conclusion

Good hotels will always exist.
Yet, in the digital era, the hotels that win will be those that can be found at the moment that matters most.

Competition will no longer be determined by who speaks the loudest—but by who appears in the right place, at the right time, with clarity and relevance.