An AI agent is software that uses AI to pursue a goal autonomously, taking multi-step actions such as checking availability, answering guests or updating systems, rather than only replying to a single prompt with text.
Where a chatbot answers questions, an agent completes tasks. A booking agent can quote rates, hold a room and send confirmation, connecting to the PMS and payment systems through APIs. Travel-planning agents on the guest side may soon shop hotels on travelers' behalf.
For hotels this raises a new visibility question, whether their inventory and content are accessible to agents at all. Sites and systems that machines cannot read or transact with become invisible to agent-mediated demand, which is a distribution risk, not a novelty.
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