How MCP and Agentic AI Are Reshaping Hotel Bookings

The New Tug-of-War Between OTAs and Direct Hotels

Nov 14, 2025

The travel industry is undergoing a seismic shift. With the rise of Model Context Protocol (MCP) and agentic AI assistants like ChatGPT and Gemini, hotel bookings are becoming a truly conversational, seamless experience. But as this technology matures, it threatens the traditional dominance of OTAs—and opens unprecedented opportunities for hotels to win direct bookings.

Why MCP Changes the Rules:

MCP is an open protocol that lets AI assistants instantly access live hotel and travel data, transact bookings, and fulfill complex guest requests. It bridges the gap between guest intent and hotel fulfillment, sidelining the “middleman” platform in many cases.
Instead of searching Google, clicking on an OTA, and hoping for a good match, travelers can simply ask an AI agent for the best hotel for their needs—and complete the booking in one conversation.

The Impact on OTA Brands:

OTAs like Expedia gained brand dominance through aggregating access and marketing muscle. But with MCP, the AI assistant—not the OTA—initiates and manages search, comparison, and transaction.
The booking channel becomes invisible to the traveler, who may not care how their reservation is fulfilled—only that it meets their needs.
This poses a challenge for OTA brand awareness: If they don’t innovate, their presence shrinks to being anonymous inventory providers, losing direct customer attention.

Discovering Hotels in the New World:

Hotel discovery, once controlled by Google SEO and branded ads, is rapidly shifting to Generative Engine Optimization (GEO): making sure MCP data is rich, real-time, and AI-readable.
Hotels that optimize their MCP data—detailing amenities, loyalty perks, real guest sentiment—will surface higher in AI recommendations.
Hotel selection moves from advertising-driven to context-driven, favoring properties that best fit each traveler’s unique request.

How Will OTAs Respond?

OTAs are moving quickly to integrate MCP into their systems, ensuring their inventory and loyalty programs are accessible to AI agents.
Expect more native OTA “skills” and “plug-ins”—special content, exclusive deals, and powerful loyalty schemes only available on certain agents.
Major OTAs may double down on technology, partnerships, and unique content, investing even more in backend integration and dynamic personalization.

Are Hotels Ready to Break Free?

Many hotels are only just beginning to deploy MCP servers and create machine-readable, structured content for direct AI discovery.
Early adopters are already seeing benefits—higher margin direct bookings, deeper personalization, and real-time guest service.
However, legacy systems, data complexity, and lack of technical expertise remain major barriers for many properties.
Hotels must act now—upgrading both mindset and tech stack—to seize the agentic AI opportunity before OTAs entrench themselves in the new ecosystem.

Final Thought:

The future of travel bookings will be defined by those who leverage MCP and agentic AI, whether OTAs or hotels. The playing field is leveling—but only for organizations willing to move fast, embrace change, and serve guests on their terms.

Are you ready to be discovered in the AI-first travel world—or will you be left out of the conversation?

References

How MCP Could Reshape Travel
PhocusWire, 2025
A comprehensive overview of how MCP is transforming the travel sector and the role of AI assistants in booking and fulfillment.
How Hotels Can Thrive in an Agentic AI World: From SEO to GEO
Platform Aeronaut, August 2025
Insights on how hotels can optimize for generative AI engines and the implications of MCP for visibility and bookings.
Hotel Distribution 2.0: What the Model Context Protocol Means for Hotels
HospitalityNet, September 2025
Explains how MCP changes the traditional distribution landscape for hotels and OTAs.
AI Travel Agent: Could it Destroy the OTA Business Model?
AltexSoft, August 2025
Analysis on whether AI-powered booking could disrupt (or dethrone) OTA dominance.
RateGain Introduces Hospitality Industry’s First MCP Platform
RateGain, September 2025
Details a real-world implementation of MCP in hotel tech.
MCP for Hotels: The AI Revolution in Hospitality
Quicktext, November 2025
How hotels can leverage MCP to increase direct bookings and streamline guest conversations.
AI solutions | Expedia Group Developers
Expedia Group, November 2025
Describes how Expedia is integrating AI and MCP to adapt to the evolving travel landscape.