Online travel agencies (OTAs) have overtaken search engines as travellers’ primary starting point for hotel discovery, according to SiteMinder’s Changing Traveller Report 2026.
Twenty-six per cent of travellers surveyed globally will now begin exploring accommodation options using an OTA, up from 18% last year, while those who will start with a search engine have fallen to 21% from 36%.
In parallel to this trend, SiteMinder’s research shows that 18% of travellers who begin their search on an OTA opt to book directly with their accommodation provider, representing a 3.3 percentage point increase year-on-year.
Likewise, twice as many travellers now say they will start their accommodation search by seeking advice from friends or family, up to 14% from 7% last year, while the proportion saying they will first look to familiar hotel brands has more than doubled from 3% to 7%.
The use of AI as a first step has reached 4%, up from 1% last year — rising higher among Gen Zs and Millennials.
While AI remains an emerging channel for the initial planning stages, when it comes to accommodation, the technology is set to rapidly transform the booking process.
Eighty per cent of travellers now want AI-powered capabilities, with price monitoring and alerts (44%) leading their wishlist, according to SiteMinder.
And, in a further sign of travellers’ increased acceptance of technology, 65% now support dynamic, or demand-based, pricing.
These trends are reflected among UK travellers, with more than 26% now saying they will use OTAs as their initial touchpoint when looking into accommodation for their next trip, compared to 16% in 2024, while only 24% will start with a search engine, down from 40%.
Sixteen per cent plan to start their research through word of mouth, and 10% by turning to known hotel brands, while 6% of Gen Z intend to start with AI, compared to 2% of the wider population.
Similarly, while UK travellers remain below the global average with regards to AI enthusiasm, acceptance is now also widespread. Sixty per cent intend to utilise AI at some point while researching and booking accommodation for their next trip, driven by price monitoring and alerts (33%), in line with global tendencies.
The same applies for dynamic pricing, with 55% agreeing that hotels should be able to adjust their pricing during times of higher demand.
“In the UK, as globally, the pathway to making a hotel booking is increasingly less linear, with travellers often referencing multiple channels before reserving their stay,” says James Bishop, Vice President of Ecosystem and Strategic Partnerships at SiteMinder.
“This underscores the need for hotels to be similarly adept at managing their digital presence. For example, the rise of OTAs as not just a source of third-party bookings, but also a primary search mechanism, highlights the advantages to hoteliers of effectively leveraging such visibility.”
