The Super 8 and La Quinta franchiser is opening its inventory to Meta's Muse, OpenAI, and Instinct. Morgan Stanley analysts think AI agents could cost hotel groups less per booking than online travel agencies do.
Wyndham has spent years telling Wall Street that its guests are construction crews, truck drivers, and families driving to the beach. On Thursday, CEO Geoff Ballotti added a new category: AI agents that book on a traveler’s behalf.
"We now have a new type of guest, and these are our new autonomous agents, who we are built to service," Ballotti told analysts on the company's third-quarter earnings call.
Ballotti ticked off Meta's Muse, OpenAI's Dots, Instinct, and other AI assistants that can now search and book Wyndham hotels on a traveler's behalf. Wyndham feeds availability and rates directly to the agents through its central reservation system.
"If we could offer a direct booking path that an AI agent can execute on easily, then we capture that guest," he said.
Morgan Stanley analyst Stephen Grambling pressed Ballotti on which matters most: more direct bookings, lower online travel agency (OTA)
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Tags: artificial intelligence, earnings, loyalty, meta, muse, online travel, online travel agencies, OTAs, skift intelligence, the prompt, wyndham, wyndham rewards