Moving Beyond the AI Hype to Data Reality

The conversation at the recent HEDNA Global Distribution Conference in Orlando made one thing clear: the hospitality industry doesn’t need more AI hype; it needs better data.

Workshop session facilitated by the Revenue & Data Discipline

The conversation at the recent HEDNA Global Distribution Conference in Orlando made one thing clear: the hospitality industry doesn’t need more AI hype; it needs better data. Led by industry experts  Ira Vouk (Author, Hospitality 2.0 Consulting), Anisha Yadav (TRevPAR Insights), and Mercedes Blanco (Lighthouse), the Revenue & Data Workshop shifted the focus from theoretical potential to the architectural requirements of a future driven by autonomous systems.

The Workshop: Designing the Future AI Booking Flow

The core of the session was an interactive co-design exercise where teams were tasked with mapping a complete AI-to-AI booking workflow. We moved past the traditional search-and-click model to explore how systems will interact in 2026.

The Challenge: Teams had to solve a highly specific traveler request: “Book me a 4-star hotel in Orlando for a conference, walking distance, quiet room, flexible cancellation, and no resort fee. Map how the entire booking flow should work in 2026”.

To succeed, each group had to:

• Map what data each segment (OTA, hotel, vendor, etc.) contributes to the process.
• Define how an AI agent retrieves and validates content for accuracy.
• Identify exactly where fraud and false listings must be eliminated.
• Show the technical handoffs between stakeholders, including payments and confirmation.
• Determine the structure of a Model Context Protocol (MCP) endpoint.

Key takeaways:

A breakthrough of the workshop was the realization that AI booking is not merely another distribution channel—it is a negotiation among systems, moving it toward managing data ownership and trust layers.

The teams identified that for a property to be “visible” to an AI assistant, it must provide high-fidelity, structured data that confirms granular attributes like “quiet room” or “no resort fee” in real-time.

Breakthroughs from the Workshop Teams

The work put in by the teams during the session highlighted several critical components for the 2026 ecosystem:

• Standardizing MCP Endpoints: Groups defined how hotels can use MCP to provide “negotiated responses,” allowing an AI agent to instantly verify if a property meets every specific constraint of a traveler’s request.
• The Trust & Validation Layer: Teams proposed systems to independently verify hotel attributes, ensuring that AI-driven recommendations are based on factually accurate data rather than static descriptions.
• Segment Handoffs: Detailed workflows were created to show how data moves seamlessly from user intent to final payment, highlighting the roles of OTAs, hotels, and payment vendors.

Measuring Success: A New Set of KPIs

As the industry moves toward agentic bookings, our traditional metrics must evolve. The workshop participants identified a shift from manual search metrics to performance indicators based on system-to-system success:

Conclusion and Next Steps
The future of distribution belongs to those who treat their data as their most valuable product. To stay ahead, HEDNA encourages all stakeholders to perform an AI Visibility Audit to ensure their data is ready for the age of autonomous agents.

Get Involved: Shape these emerging standards by joining the HEDNA Revenue & Data Discipline. Together, we can build the infrastructure that powers the next generation of travel distribution.