SiteMinder expands hotel bookings into AI channels
SiteMinder has expanded its hotel distribution platform to support AI-driven booking pathways, opening its network of 53,000 hotels to new forms of travel search and booking.
It is an extension of two existing products, Demand Plus and Channels Plus, enabling hotels to appear in AI-based discovery tools and AI-enabled travel intermediaries. The changes are designed to allow hotels to receive bookings either on their own websites or on third-party platforms that manage the full booking journey.
Demand Plus, already used across metasearch services including Google, Trivago and TripAdvisor, will now extend into AI-driven conversational environments such as ChatGPT and Claude. In that model, travellers can receive hotel recommendations, view live rates and complete a booking on the hotel's own booking page.
At the same time, Channels Plus will open SiteMinder's hotel inventory to AI-enabled online travel agencies and intermediaries that search, compare and book on behalf of travellers. In those cases, discovery and booking remain within the partner platform, while the reservation is passed through SiteMinder to the hotel.
SiteMinder has named DirectBooker as its first AI demand partner. DirectBooker connects live hotel rates to established and emerging AI platforms, giving SiteMinder an initial route into what it sees as a new layer of travel discovery.
Behaviour shift
The expansion reflects a wider shift in traveller behaviour. SiteMinder's Changing Traveller Report 2026 found that eight in ten travellers want AI assistance during the booking process, suggesting accommodation providers may need to adapt their distribution strategies as travellers increasingly rely on conversational tools and automated recommendations.
At the centre of the expansion is the Model Context Protocol (MCP), a technical standard that allows AI platforms to access live hotel data in real time. This is important because AI services that rely on stale or incomplete information can struggle to present accurate rates, availability and booking options.
For hotels, the commercial issue is visibility. If travellers begin their accommodation search through AI assistants rather than traditional search engines, metasearch sites, or online travel agencies, distribution systems will need to ensure that hotel listings still appear with current prices and room availability.
Network scale
SiteMinder is one of the larger distribution networks in hospitality, connecting 53,000 hotels and 2.5 million rooms across 150 countries. It processes more than 300 million room nights annually, giving it a broad base from which to introduce new booking routes without requiring hotels to build separate direct integrations with each AI platform.
Sankar Narayan, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of SiteMinder, described the move as part of the company's efforts to adapt to changing booking behaviour. "Navigating the shifts in how travellers find and book hotels is what SiteMinder was built to do," said Sankar Narayan, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, SiteMinder. "As AI-driven hotel discovery accelerates, we are expanding Demand Plus and Channels Plus to give properties on our platform new ways to be found and convert demand across these emerging pathways. For hoteliers, that means being present and bookable at every new point of discovery, and that advantage will only grow."
Channel evolution
The addition of DirectBooker offers a clearer indication of how the model may develop. Rather than treating AI assistants only as information tools, the arrangement suggests travel technology providers expect them to become active booking channels, either directing users to hotel websites or completing transactions within partner environments.
Sanjay Vakil, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of DirectBooker, described the change as a structural shift in online travel discovery. "AI is creating a new front door for hotel discovery, and every hotel deserves to be found through it," said Sanjay Vakil, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder, DirectBooker. "SiteMinder has pioneered hotel distribution at every major turn, and this partnership extends that leadership into the age of AI-driven travel. SiteMinder's partnership supports DirectBooker's goal of ensuring hotels are the primary beneficiaries of this shift: capturing a new generation of demand while keeping the guest relationship exactly where it belongs."
Large hotel operators are also watching how quickly guest behaviour is changing. The move comes as accommodation groups assess whether AI tools will divert traffic from existing booking channels or create incremental demand from travellers who prefer guided search and instant comparison.
Norman Arundel, Director of Hotels and Resorts at EVT, said the change was already visible. "We are watching guest search behaviour evolve in real time, and the direction is unmistakable: AI is becoming part of how travellers find and choose where to stay," said Norman Arundel, Director of Hotels and Resorts, EVT. "The imperative for hotels is to be discoverable in that environment, surfacing the right information at the right moment. At EVT, we see this as one of the most significant opportunities in hospitality right now, and it's encouraging to see technology partners actively enabling hotels to not only be found, but booked, wherever guests are searching."
SiteMinder's broader platform also handles more than 135 million reservations worth more than AUD $85 billion for hotel customers each year, underscoring the scale of the inventory and transaction flow it seeks to make accessible to AI-led booking journeys.