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Proactive hospitality: greater focus on intelligence that makes decisions and takes action, rather than merely ornamental AI.
As online travel agencies (OTAs) intensify their battle to lead in the field of artificial intelligence, something more essential is in the making: the age of the agency. This change will transform the way services are distributed, marketed and managed in the hospitality industry. The question is not when it will happen, but whether your hotel will be ready for it.
Before I begin, I would like to contextualize the reader into three "levels" that, from my perspective, explain the progress that lies ahead. These are different stages: currently, we could be in the first; at Fitur, we will take the first tangible step towards the second; and the third represents the strategic vision that we will gradually unveil.
1) Virtual assistant searching for information.
This is a chat that provides answers to questions using information, without the need for modifications. Some examples are: "Do you have a pool?", "What time does check-in start?", "What are the rates for February 12?", "What is my reservation number?". You can check availability or policies, but your role is limited to providing information.
Agent that performs specific actions.
In this case, the function goes beyond simply responding; it acts within certain parameters. For example, it may be responsible for creating a reservation, changing dates, adding services such as breakfast or parking, processing payments, sending confirmations or updating guest information. It is a transactional action, which implies the need for permissions, tracking and error control.
3) Coordination of internal activities and strategic decision making.
This is the "internal hotel management" stage: the agent is responsible for coordinating activities between different departments and, in the medium term, assists in making decisions related to marketing, distribution and revenue using the hotel's information. For example, after a booking, he or she will inform housekeeping about the need for a crib, notify reception about an early check-in, assign tasks to housekeeping, alert food and beverage about an allergy, update the CRM and set reminders. It's not just about making reservations; it's about activating the inner workings of the hotel.
It's not just a matter of "superimposing AI".
That's right, it's not about simply adding artificial intelligence to existing systems. Rather, it focuses on establishing a technical infrastructure and data architecture that allows any language model or agent to interact with hotel information. This includes both the guest experience - such as checking real-time availability, accessing up-to-date rates and confirming reservations - and internal hotel operations, all through natural language interactions.
The distinction is critical. While many vendors are incorporating chatbots and AI capabilities as temporary solutions into legacy systems, developing an AI-enabled infrastructure requires a major overhaul of the hotel industry's data organization, layout and connectivity. At Neobookings, we have been devoting more than a year to this transformation, as we understood early on that it could not be solved with superficial integrations.
Transformation is already underway
It is estimated that in the near future, a large part of travel searches will be conversational. It is not necessary to wait to see figures to recognize this change: today's traveler is not looking for "criteria" and ten links; what they want is a clear answer to their request, such as: "I am looking for a family hotel in Barcelona with a swimming pool, close to the beach, that accepts pets and costs less than 200 euros".
While this is happening, the major OTAs are making significant investments and establishing partnerships with major players in artificial intelligence. For hotels, the danger is clear: if someone else does the talking (and the decision-making), their control over direct distribution is reduced.
CCM: the much-talked-about protocol
This is the purpose of the Model Context Protocol, an open standard designed to interconnect systems, allowing language models and agents to relate to information and tools in a uniform way. In simple terms, the proposal is that an agent should not have to perform specific integrations for each model, but rather have a "universal language" that allows it to communicate with the entire hotel ecosystem: reservation system, PMS, CRS, CRM, online reputation management, spa, restaurants and housekeeping.
In other words, if we really want to have agents, it is essential that we have connectivity and data available in real time, as well as well-defined rules. This is not superficial.
Developing something completely innovative
1. A reservation system designed specifically for CCM, in a native way
At Neobookings we have opted for a native integration of MCP in our booking engine. I emphasize the term "native" because it is not just a simple add-on that is added superficially. The distinction is not just about the visual aspect; it is a matter of architecture. When an agent performs its actions, it is not enough to "read" information: it needs to interact with consistent data and experience predictable transactional behavior.
What do I mean by transactional? I mean that the user has the ability to have a seamless chat with an attendant, while the system takes care of all the necessary steps: booking a room, adding spa services, arranging a transfer, including a family package, processing the payment and issuing a voucher, based solely on the hotel's information and not on standardized third-party data.
2. Interacting with hotel information: NeoTalk2Data
A key tool is NeoTalk2Data, which allows hotel intelligence and data to be accessed through conversations, either by voice or text, without the need for endless dashboards or delayed reports. The goal is clear: to enable a team to ask questions and understand, in a matter of seconds, the status of inventory, bookings, adjustments or performance.
This does not replace a revenue team, but provides agility, context and analytical skills. That distinction is critical in a market that changes rapidly, even in a matter of minutes.
3. Morpheus: the beginning of intelligent hospitality
If the future is going to look like anything, it's going to look like this: Meet Morpheus. This "super agent" links into the hotel's applications-PMS, channel manager, booking engine, housekeeping, food and beverage, reputation management, revenue-and activates specialized agents in each area. Each agent deals with a specific system, and the orchestration is responsible for coordinating operations to make the hotel run in a more autonomous, organized and intelligent way.
I reiterate: Morpheus is not limited to being a chatbot that simply answers questions. It aims to become an agent that coordinates decisions and carries out actions, anticipating operational needs and suggesting (and, when necessary, implementing) the most appropriate action.
Interaction, information and extreme personalization
Never before has it been possible to achieve such precise personalization in communication, both for guests and staff. This phenomenon is not a product of chance, but of the use of data. The hotels that will really stand out in the age of artificial intelligence will not be those that have the most resources, but those that manage their information effectively: avoiding duplicates, eliminating silos and ensuring consistent descriptions of the same products across all their systems.
The time has come to take action. The key lies in establishing a single source of reliable information: creating unduplicated guest profiles, providing consistent service descriptions across all channels, and organizing data in a way that machines can understand. This requires breaking down silos between departments, centralizing dispersed information and maintaining a repository of validated data on facilities, policies and services.
Preparing for the incorporation of intelligent agents is critical: it's what defines whether you'll be noticed or remain in the shadows in the new distribution environment. To achieve this, you'll need to collaborate with technology partners who are prepared to use protocols such as MCP and real-time open APIs.
2026: The technological revolution
It's an uncomfortable but essential question for all hotels: are your current systems ready for an agent to check your availability in real time, understand your complicated business conditions and make a reservation without human intervention?
If the answer is no, those competitors with agentic technology will begin to attract direct demand through conversations, while other hotels will remain oblivious to these interactions. Hotels must decide whether to develop a suitable infrastructure for artificial intelligence or continue to improvise while others set the industry standards. Ignoring decision making is also, in fact, a decision, and it will have repercussions.
I'll show it to you at Fitur...
At Fitur 2026, I will present the foundations of what I consider, without hesitation, to be the most significant technological breakthrough in the industry in the last 25 years. It will be the opportunity to demonstrate live how we are transforming the conversation about AI into its actual application: from discussing it to implementing it, with a detailed plan to unveil, bit by bit, the upcoming functionalities of this super assistant in the months to come.
Authors
Raúl Blanco Díaz is Chief Artificial Intelligence Officer at Neobookings. Since his childhood, he has been inspired by science fiction and now enthusiastically experiences the historical era in which the innovations he dreamed of become a reality in the hotel industry. In his daily routine, he is dedicated to researching, testing and offering his perspective on the implementation of artificial intelligence in the hospitality industry, balancing his awe of technological opportunities with a critical assessment of their impact on the future of the industry.
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