The AI Hospitality Alliance just surveyed 100 founding members and found an industry begging for practical AI use cases and standards. What's buried in the data is more interesting... a quarter of respondents are vendors, which means the people selling you AI also don't know what the standards should be.
Cloudbeds' 2026 report confirms what every independent operator already feels in their gut: OTAs now control nearly two-thirds of independent hotel bookings, ADR dropped almost 6%, and the gap between independents and branded properties is widening fast. The question isn't whether this is a problem... it's whether you're going to do something about it before the next 5% disappears.
Cloudbeds just analyzed 90 million bookings and the picture for independents isn't tightening margins... it's a slow-motion surrender of your business to platforms that charge you 15-25% for guests who used to find you on their own. The question is whether you're going to do something about it or just keep writing the commission checks.
