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Lighthouse Unveils Connect AI: Bridging the Divide Between Hotels and AI-Powered Travel Planning

Lighthouse Unveils Connect AI: Bridging the Divide Between Hotels and AI-Powered Travel Planning

New AI engine enables hotels to be discovered, understood, and booked by AI agents as travel planning shifts to AI-powered platforms
DENVER, COLORADO / ACCESS Newswire / June 26, 2025 / Lighthouse, the leading commercial platform for the travel and hospitality industry, today announced the launch of Connect AI, an innovative AI engine designed to seamlessly enable deeper connection between hotels and AI powered search and travel planning platforms.
Connect AI addresses two critical industry challenges: AI agents lack the ability to access structured rate, availability, and contextual hotel information; while hotels lack the ability to enable direct booking capabilities and provide real-time information through AI platforms.
Consumer adoption of AI has grown faster than any disruptive technology in history, as Mary Meeker recently highlighted with ChatGPT reaching 100M users in less than three months. Yet, despite the rapid adoption of AI for travel planning, hotels are significantly underrepresented in AI-driven search results. According to a recent report by Skift, not a single hotel brand currently appears among the top 10 citations for travel planners in leading AI Overview search results.
This lack of discoverability and accessible information presents a significant missed opportunity for hotels to drive direct bookings with a new generation of travelers. Hoteliers face enormous opportunity risk without an AI data and connectivity strategy.
Connect AI solves this by creating a comprehensive data bridge between the hospitality industry and the rapidly expanding ecosystem of AI travel planning platforms.
'We're seeing travelers increasingly turn to AI tools for trip planning, and our data shows this shift is accelerating faster than anyone anticipated,' said Juanjo Rodriguez, Head of Marketing & Direct Growth Products at Lighthouse. 'According to Phocuswright research, 50% of travelers plan to use generative AI for leisure travel within the next 12 months. Hotels that connect with AI platforms now will be positioned to capture more value, while those that wait risk missing this transition entirely. Connect AI helps hoteliers get ahead of this curve.'
The primary benefits of Connect AI include:
Lighthouse is uniquely positioned to address these industry challenges due to its unparalleled scale, data accuracy, and extensive integrations:
'Connect AI represents a new approach to marketing and distribution strategy,' said Sergio Zertuche, Chief Sales & Marketing Officer at Palladium Hotel Group, a pioneering company in the adoption of this technology. 'We see this as an exciting opportunity to connect with travelers in new ways. With the speed of AI adoption, we want to ensure our properties are discoverable and bookable when guests search through these new channels.'
Connect AI is now available to select hotel partners as part of an early access program. Hotels interested in exploring connection opportunities are encouraged to visit: www.mylighthouse.com/lp/connect-ai-early-access to learn more.
Contact InformationAdam Swart Global Head of Brand 917-359-8969
SOURCE: Lighthouse Ltd
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