Tata Graham Crocombe

Like every business in the Cook Islands, our resort group is now staring at a crisis we did not create, cannot control and have no influence over.

This crisis has thrown into sharp relief the monumental blunder the government has made in giving much lip service to green energy for many years while at the same time effectively blocking businesses and households from tapping into the one energy resource we have lots of i.e. solar. Hopefully, it will be lesson learnt and all the self-serving government restrictions on solar will be lifted soon.

If the fuel does not arrive, if flights are further reduced, if the global situation worsens – we face real hardship. Tourism is our economic lifeblood. When visitors cannot get here, or cannot afford to get here, every business, every household will feel it.

In our modeling, OTA bookings often deliver only a fraction of the EBITDA compared to equivalent direct bookings.

Hotels often underestimate the true purpose of packages. Too frequently, they are viewed merely as: - A promotion - A rate fence - A nice marketing add-on

For too long, many have treated all occupied rooms as equal. They are not.

This is a difficult truth, as the industry has long been conditioned to pursue volume, occupancy, and visible pace.

This shift is crucial in a landscape where online travel agencies (OTAs) thrive on comparability.

Moreover, many hotels may be overexposing their best inventory to their least valuable channels.

In many instances, hospitality has become synonymous with logistics.

Until recently, hotels didn’t have the tools to see this clearly. The data existed — across reservations systems, POS systems, spa bookings, guest feedback, loyalty programmes — but it was too fragmented and complex to analyse.

For decades the global hotel industry has used one dominant performance metric: RevPAR. Revenue per available room. It’s useful — but it’s also deeply misleading.

For decades the industry chased volume through intermediaries like Booking.com and Expedia, paying commissions of 20–30%.

For 30 years the global hotel industry has been optimising the wrong metric.

RevPAR treats every guest as economically identical. But they aren’t.

Occupancy may hold as Kiwis opt for short-haul holidays, but rates will be under pressure. Sustainable long-term yield must come from elsewhere.

Airlift is destiny. Without more seats, competitive pricing, better schedules and aligned marketing, the growth potential of both Cook Islands tourism and the national economy will remain capped.

We now compete not only with Pacific neighbours but also with Asia's scale and value propositions. The Cook Islands must compete on uniqueness, authenticity, quality and value.

Airlift is destiny. Without more capacity, competitive pricing, and better schedules, growth will stall.

We need lower interest rates, tax incentives, training support, infrastructure upgrades, and more destination marketing.

demand now exceeds the availability of airline seats and is the binding constraint on the Cook Island's prosperity.

By contrast, seabed mining is a very high-risk gamble. The economics of extraction are unproven, demand conditions uncertain and the technology remains experimental – it has never worked commercially anywhere in the world. It is foreign-controlled, and the environmental risks are potentially catastrophic for the Cook Islands but not for the seabed mining companies. Any disaster would be borne by Cook Islanders and our environment, not investors in distant financial centres. Far from spreading benefits broadly, seabed mining would concentrate them narrowly – and mostly overseas – while leaving Cook Islanders to live with the risks. History offers sobering lessons: Nauru's phosphate collapse triggered economic ruin, and Bougainville's failed mining operations fuelled a deadly civil war. Extractive industries have a poor record in small island economies and more often destroy value than create it.

Airline seat capacity – along with fare pricing, schedules and marketing – not the attractiveness of the Cook Islands as a destination, is the binding constraint on our prosperity.

However, bridging the gap between aspiration and reservation often poses a challenge for many hotels.

In a hotel, human connections are paramount. However, a significant portion of our day is consumed by mundane administrative tasks. For instance, crafting a single wedding quote would occupy an experienced wedding planner for nearly 3 hours, time that could have been spent engaging with brides.

The line between personalization and surveillance is thin — and in hospitality, it really matters.

just because we can pull data from public platforms doesn’t mean we should — not without clear, informed guest consent.

Today's CRM do useful things: they track guest data, run campaigns, pull reports. But let’s be honest — they’re still mostly reactive, siloed, and centered around what we already know about the guest.

Unless we use that power responsibly, we risk crossing the line from personalization to privacy violation.

Limited Supplier Acceptance – Even if you accept crypto, most of your vendors will still require settlement in your local currency.

For too long, hotels have been boxed into commoditization — reduced to a rate and availability grid on OTA platforms.

For hotels in Europe or the US, where settlement in EUR or USD is seamless, crypto payments may already make sense. For hotels in other markets that lack of settlement in your currency and certified PMS integrations remain serious blockers.

But in chasing every revenue stream and every market segment, a hotel can lose something far more valuable: its centre.

For too long, loyalty programs have trained guests to chase discounts and points — a transactional model that often benefits intermediaries more than the hotel.

In trying to serve everyone, we were unintentionally diminishing the experience for the very guests who had made the deliberate choice to stay with us—and paid a premium to do so.

Settlement Currency – Many providers only settle in EUR or USD, not in local currencies like NZD which is what we use. For most hotels, paying suppliers in crypto or foreign currency is impractical.

Integration Gaps – Unless a provider already has certified integrations with your PMS (e.g., Oracle Opera Cloud) or channel manager (e.g., SiteMinder), you may be facing expensive, time-consuming IT projects.

Regulatory & Banking Barriers – In many jurisdictions, opening or operating foreign settlement accounts is difficult.

And we’re certainly not outsourcing guest relationships to AI-flavored OTAs or meta-aggregators.

A recent startup—founded by OTA and Google alumni—claimed that independent hotels can’t compete due to a lack of “options.” That’s a category error.

First, starting last week, all our resorts are under a mandatory conservation directive. Electricity, gas, water, vehicle use – all of it is being actively managed and monitored. Lights off in empty rooms. Burners off when not in use. No unnecessary vehicle trips. These sound like small things. They are not. Multiplied across our resorts, every day, they add up. And frankly, we should have been doing this all along.

We are already seeing this in the rapid uptake of digital technology across the Cook Islands tourism sector — from holiday home operators marketing their properties through social media to tourism businesses experimenting

We're opting for a controlled enablement model instead of a prohibition model—prioritizing technical controls first, followed by policy considerations.

In our group, we've been discussing a critical question regarding the integration of AI tools in daily operations. These tools are already assisting with tasks such as drafting documents, analyzing revenue reports, reviewing procurement trends, and enhancing reporting processes.

Our stance is clear: - AI may analyze exported reports. - AI may not connect to operational systems. This means no connectors, no autonomous agents, and no system access.

We’re building an AI agent that dynamically opens and closes hotel distribution channels based on real-time acquisition costs — personalized by room type, rate, and guest profile.

The government focus and considerable public funds currently being poured into seabed mining initiatives would be far better invested in tourism marketing and airlift expansion. These are proven, immediate-return investments. Every additional airline seat landing in Rarotonga translates directly into economic growth, more jobs and business opportunities, higher incomes and a broader, more sustainable base of national prosperity.

Embracing this future, we have already integrated AI across various hotel operations:

We're redirecting millions from OTA commissions towards enhancing our properties, team, and guest experience.

By implementing AI to streamline and personalize our booking process, we've not only doubled our reservations team's efficiency but also boosted direct conversions by over 100%.

I’ve been exploring whether Bitcoin, Ethereum, stable coins, and other digital currencies could add value to our resorts.

So when we recently closed our resort to outside visitors, we expected some backlash—and maybe a revenue dip. But the opposite happened: ✅ Guest satisfaction surged ✅ Average spend per guest increased ✅ Service quality improved ✅ Our team shifted from managing crowds to hosting people

At our resorts, we’re starting with our most valuable repeat guests — developing AI-generated, individually tailored sales and marketing strategies to deepen engagement, recognition, and repeat business.

By using AI tools to enhance our digital presence and direct engagement, we've increased our direct bookings from 20% to 50%.

We've generated significant financial and strategic returns from our AI initiatives.

We've deployed AI-powered assistants to help our staff generate detailed, personalized responses to guest inquiries around the clock.

We use AI for a wide range of tasks throughout the business, from analyzing and drafting compelling responses to guest reviews to creating innovative marketing content.

In my own experience, the return on investment from our investments in AI solutions has been phenomenal while the return on investment from our multi-million dollar decades long investments in hotel tech has been very very very poor

We began by building targeted internal AI agents—like our Wedding Planner Agent. What used to take hours of manual quoting, drafting, and coordination now takes minutes. It’s not perfect (yet), but get the basics working first.

This isn’t theory—it’s real-world AI deployment, step by step. We’re not waiting for “perfect” integrations or massive budgets. We’re taking what works and moving fast, then layering in complexity as we go.

Convert faster and more effectively—this is not a concept. It’s already producing direct revenue.

Over the past few months, we’ve quietly rolled out a network of AI agents across our hotels—not as flashy guest-facing bots, but as pragmatic, internal accelerators.

A wedding or group inquiry that used to take three hours now takes three minutes.

No hype. Just execution—and revenue.

However, we have faced adversity before. We have come through cyclones, through COVID, through economic downturns. We come through them not by pretending everything is fine, but by facing reality squarely, looking after each other and doing the hard work of preparation.

I have heard a lot of people say we need to 'stay positive'. I respectfully disagree. Positivity is not a strategy. What we need is clear-headedness.

Being clear-headed means acknowledging what we can and cannot control. We cannot influence the price of oil. We cannot reopen the Strait of Hormuz. We cannot make airlines add flights when jet fuel costs are through the roof. We cannot make tourists book holidays when their own economies are under strain.

At The Rarotongan Beach Resort Collection, we have taken the following approach.

Third, we are protecting our people. Our staff are being briefed honestly on what is happening and what may happen, as the situation is fluid and could change quickly. If we need to make changes to rosters or operations, we will do it with fairness and transparency. Our people are the reason our business succeeds.

Second, we are planning for multiple scenarios. We have built a framework that ranges from the situation resolving itself quickly, through a moderate and severe reduction in tourist arrivals, all the way to a full shutdown of the island if fuel simply runs out. We are not predicting any one of these outcomes. But we are preparing for all of them. Hope is not a plan.

Fourth, we are treating this as a permanent lesson, not a temporary inconvenience. The Cook Islands will always be at the end of the global supply chain. We will always be vulnerable to exactly this kind of shock. The conservation habits and operational disciplines we are building now should stay with us long after this particular crisis passes. Every resort, every business, every household on this island should be asking: how can we use less, waste less and depend less on fuel we do not control?

What we can do is act decisively with the things within our reach.

We hope for the best. We are planning for the worst. And we are starting today.

The next few weeks will tell us a great deal. We will be watching the fuel supply, the airline schedules and the global situation daily. We will update our plans as facts change. And we will keep talking – to our staff, to our guests, to our travel industry partners around the world, to the government and to the community.

That is what clear-headedness looks like. Not pessimism. Not panic. Just honest assessment, practical action and the determination to be ready for whatever comes.

Many hotels could benefit from considering length of stay in a more holistic manner.

This shift is crucial because modern hotels are not merely selling a bed; they are offering a combination of: Experience, Timing, Place, Service, Emotion, Convenience, Memory.

Hotels that embrace this evolution early will gain a significant advantage by transforming their websites from passive storefronts into active commercial brains.

This represents one of the most important shifts on the horizon in hotel technology.

Loyalty is not merely a marketing program; it is a distribution strategy that holds significant potential in the hospitality industry.

Too often, loyalty is viewed as an add-on, something supplementary to the business. However, it should be recognized as a fundamental aspect of operations.

The true commercial advantage lies not just in securing bookings, but in achieving the following: - Getting bookings directly - Maintaining relationships with guests - Increasing the likelihood of repeat stays - Reducing reliance on costly intermediaries - Protecting access to premium inventory for valued guests

This approach transcends traditional marketing; it encompasses distribution, channel control, and long-term profit protection.

When hotels truly understand their best guests, loyalty transforms into a means to: - Prioritize direct access - Create superior value without engaging in price wars - Identify and retain high-lifetime-value guests - Shift demand from expensive channels to owned ones

This perspective also alters how hotels view their best rooms. Instead of broadly marketing premium inventory, hotels can ask themselves, 'Which room types should be reserved for guests who appreciate our value and are likely to return?'

This shift in philosophy highlights that the future of loyalty in hotels is not solely about points, perks, or discounts; it is about access, recognition, priority, relationship, and channel shift.

In this context, loyalty is integral to a hotel's commercial strategy and serves as a powerful tool for reshaping it.

A lot of hotel AI discussion still seems to orbit around one basic idea: “Can the system recommend a better price?” While that’s useful, it’s far too narrow.

The real opportunity for AI in hotels is not just to automate pricing, but to explain the business.

This is where AI becomes genuinely strategic. It should not function as a black box that simply provides a number, but as a system that helps commercial teams connect various elements such as: Booking pace, Channel mix, Guest satisfaction, Loyalty, Profitability, Operating impact.

In other words, the future is not just about asking, “What price should we set?” It’s about understanding, “What is actually happening in the business, why is it happening, and what should we do about it?” This represents a very different level of intelligence.

I believe this is where the most interesting hotel technology will be built over the next few years.

This shift is where the industry is heading.

Packages Are Not a Product. They Are a Direct-Channel Weapon

packages hold much greater potential: they serve as a direct-channel weapon.

A room-only product is straightforward to compare, while a package is much harder to commoditize.

By combining the stay with elements such as: - Breakfast - Experiences - Activities - Dining - Wellness - Cultural elements - Resort credit the focus shifts from 'Who has the cheapest room?' to 'Who is offering the best overall stay?'

when utilized effectively, packages can: - Protect margin - Reduce channel arbitrage - Create stronger direct-booking value - Reinforce the property's own positioning - Help hotels reclaim more of the guest relationship

the most unique and differentiated stay is often one that hotels should manage directly.

When guests stay longer, the benefits include: - Fewer check-ins and check-outs - Less front office churn - Reduced housekeeping turnover pressure - Fewer transition points - Decreased opportunities for friction - More time for guests to relax into the property - Increased opportunities for staff to build familiarity and connection

Longer stays correlate with: - Less noise - Reduced panic - Decreased disruption - Improved staff-guest rapport - Higher guest satisfaction

While minimum length of stay is frequently discussed as a pricing or yield lever, it also serves as an experience-quality and operating-rhythm lever.

The right commercial settings can enhance: - Booking quality - Guest quality - Operational quality

This perspective shifts the conversation from 'Will a longer minimum stay hurt volume?' to 'Will it improve the overall quality of the business?'

The future of hotel commercial strategy is shifting focus from attracting more guests to attracting the right guests.

These are the guests who: - Stay longer - Spend more meaningfully - Fit the property better - Generate stronger satisfaction - Are more likely to return - Are more likely to book direct next time - Are more likely to advocate publicly

What stands out is how often these signals cluster together. The same guests who are commercially attractive also tend to: - Stay longer - Create less operational noise - Settle into the property more naturally - Build stronger relationships with staff - Leave happier - Return for future stays

This has significant implications for strategy. It suggests that hotels should carefully consider: - Who they are really building for - Which guests they want more of - Which channels are bringing those guests - Which commercial decisions might be attracting the wrong ones

The real opportunity lies in identifying, protecting, converting, and growing the guests who create value over time.

This is where loyalty, AI, channel strategy, NPS, and profitability begin to converge.

The future may belong to hotels that understand not just demand, but guest quality.

Our recent analysis has revealed a striking insight: a direct booking can be worth several OTA bookings at the EBITDA level.

While the industry frequently discusses channel mix, many still underestimate the significant profitability gap that exists.

This shifts the conversation entirely. It highlights that: - Not all topline growth is beneficial - Some 'high-performing' demand may lead to profitless growth - The real challenge lies not just in filling rooms, but in filling them with the right guests through the right channels

However, if one channel generates revenue while another provides revenue, profit, customer ownership, and repeat potential, they are fundamentally different products.

The more I reflect on this, the more I believe this represents one of the biggest hidden commercial opportunities in hospitality.

The next frontier is not merely channel management; it is channel profitability management.

In recent months, I've come to a significant realization: the hotel industry must transition from traditional revenue management to a focus on profitability intelligence.

While these questions remain relevant, they no longer suffice.

Two bookings at the same ADR can yield vastly different results for a hotel when considering factors such as: - Channel cost of acquisition - Length of stay - Repeat potential - Guest satisfaction - Package mix - Ancillary spend - Likelihood of returning direct next time

This highlights a crucial point: not all revenue is created equal.

To drive meaningful change, we need to ask more insightful questions: - Which guests generate the strongest EBITDA? - Which channels attract the right guests, rather than just more guests? - Which stay patterns enhance both profitability and guest experience? - Which guests are most likely to return, advocate, and book directly?

This is where AI becomes truly valuable—not as a gimmick or a simple chatbot added to a dashboard, but as a tool to integrate commercial, operational, and guest-quality signals into a more intelligent decision-making system.

I believe the future lies not in Revenue Management, but in Profitability Intelligence. This represents a fundamentally different operating model.

I envision the next generation of hotel websites as AI-native commercial engines.

if a guest desires the full hotel experience, that should typically be a direct booking.

Currently, the most successful AI applications in hospitality are surprisingly simple. They tackle very specific problems: - slow response times - fragmented guest data - manual processes - inefficient workflows

The future of hospitality distribution may not revolve around search; it may center on delegation.

For years, the industry has focused on optimizing for efficiency through automation, standardization, and scale. Now, with AI, we can push these efficiencies further than ever. However, it's important to recognize that efficiency does not equate to experience, and intelligence does not replace care.

As AI takes on the predictable tasks, what remains is the unpredictable aspect of hospitality, which includes: - Emotion - Nuance - Context - Memory

This highlights the significance of the human layer in our industry. In this light, the future of hospitality may not be less human; it may be more intentionally human than ever before.

Most hotel AI projects don’t fail due to technology; they fail because of a lack of clarity.

AI does not resolve unclear thinking; it amplifies it.

No hype. Just clarity.

AI doesn’t transform businesses; clear thinking does.

Hotels invest billions annually in distribution, with 20–30% of revenue often allocated to OTAs. This has long been viewed as the cost of visibility. However, the emergence of AI is poised to transform this landscape.

AI is reshaping how guests discover hotels. Instead of sifting through numerous options, travelers are increasingly asking, “Find me the best hotel for this kind of trip,” and receiving direct answers rather than a list of links or endless comparisons.

If this trend becomes the norm, the competitive landscape will shift. Hotels will no longer vie for clicks; they will need to compete for relevance within AI systems.

This raises a crucial question: In an AI-driven world, what matters more—distribution or understanding your guest better than anyone else

AI is prompting the hospitality industry to reevaluate a core question: What is hospitality, really?

For years, the industry has leaned towards industrialization, characterized by: – standardized rooms – scripted service – algorithmic pricing – platforms controlling demand

AI could further this trend or potentially reverse it.

As AI takes over repetitive cognitive tasks, what remains is the irreplaceable aspect of hospitality: – care – empathy – connection – sharing – delight – joy – lifetime memories

The question is not: “How will guests use AI to search for hotels?”

These elements embody the essence of hospitality.

We are beginning to ask the wrong questions about AI in hospitality.

Technology has historically transformed the hospitality landscape. However, the most significant changes occur not through the addition of more systems, but by eliminating barriers that hinder our humanity; our connection with ourselves and others.

AI may not pose a threat to hospitality; rather, it may compel us to redefine it.

The real question is: “What happens when AI starts booking travel on behalf of guests?”

Imagine this scenario: A traveler instructs their AI assistant: “Plan a five-day trip somewhere warm and relaxing.” The AI then: - Chooses the destination - Selects the hotel - Books the room - Organizes activities

In this scenario, there is no browsing, no comparison, and no search. Hotels would no longer compete for human attention; they would compete for machine decisions.

This shift means: - Data quality matters more - Reputation signals matter more - Context matters more

Hospitality is entering a unique paradox. As our systems become more intelligent, the value of human presence increases.

Perhaps most importantly, the tourism industry must continue to evolve and clearly express the unique experiences we offer – drawing on the strengths that make the Cook Islands special.

Done well, the Cook Islands can build a tourism industry that grows sustainably while protecting the natural and cultural heritage that makes these islands so special.

In the end, the success of Cook Islands tourism will not be defined simply by how many visitors arrive at the airport each year.

It will be defined by something deeper: How strongly visitors feel connected to this unique place when they leave.

But for the Cook Islands, the more important question over the next decade may be different: how can we create a tourism industry that delivers more value from each visitor who comes?

In short, the challenge for the Cook Islands is not simply how to grow tourism, but how to grow the right kind of tourism.

The Cook Islands does not need to follow either of those models.

Interestingly, this shift may favour small, boutique destinations like the Cook Islands.

Our competitive advantage lies somewhere different – in offering one of the most authentic contemporary Polynesian travel experiences in the Pacific.

That means focusing on quality rather than quantity.

All of this suggests that the future of Cook Islands tourism will not only be about welcoming visitors, but about empowering Cook Islanders to create businesses, share their culture, and shape the experiences that the right kind of travellers come here to discover and appreciate.

It also creates opportunities for people to turn their talents, creativity, and passions into businesses – whether guiding lagoon tours, hosting visitors in holiday homes, creating fashion and crafts, running restaurants and cafés, or developing new cultural and environmental experiences.

In many ways, a smaller number of visitors who deeply experience a place can create more value for the economy and community than larger numbers who pass through quickly.

Looking ahead 10 years, the Cook Islands has an opportunity to position itself as one of the Pacific's most distinctive travel destinations – a place known not just for beautiful scenery, but for meaningful experiences rooted in a living, contemporary Polynesian culture, and a deep commitment to caring for the natural environment.

In many ways, the future of Cook Islands tourism is being shaped by three powerful forces working together: the global demand for authentic experiences, the ability of artificial intelligence to help travellers discover distinctive places, and the creativity of Cook Islands entrepreneurs who bring those experiences to life.

In a world where many destinations are becoming bigger and more crowded, the Cook Islands can really stand out by remaining authentic.

Artificial intelligence is very good at identifying and recommending places that are distinctive and authentic.

AI is also making it easier for visitors to discover and book experiences directly with local businesses, rather than relying solely on large international travel platforms.

Compared with many destinations around the Pacific, a remarkable proportion of tourism businesses in the Cook Islands are owned and operated by local people – from accommodation providers and restaurants to tour operators, artists, craftspeople, and small family businesses.

This matters because locally owned tourism businesses keep more of the economic benefits within the country.

Often when people talk about tourism growth, they usually mean more visitors. But for a small island nation like the Cook Islands, the future of tourism may depend less on how many people arrive each year and more on the kind of experiences they have while they are here

Together, these trends reinforce one another.

In a rapidly changing global travel market, our greatest opportunity may not be becoming bigger – but becoming more distinctive.

When global demand for authentic experiences meets artificial intelligence and local creativity, small destinations like the Cook Islands can compete with the world.

This shift means that the algorithm is now acting as the new travel agent, which alters the strategic landscape for hotels.

In the era of AI, the most effective strategy may simply be to be distinctive enough that the algorithm cannot overlook you.

For ambitious independent hotel owners, the strategic question has transformed from “How do we compete with the big brands or OTAs?” to “How clearly do we express what makes our hotel truly unique?”

For hotel owners and destination leaders, the strategic question is evolving. It is no longer just about competing with larger brands and OTAs. Instead, it is about how clearly they can express what makes their location truly unique. In the AI era, authenticity may emerge as the most powerful competitive advantage in travel.

This shift presents an intriguing possibility: the future of travel may favor places that are most authentic. We may see a rise in small destinations with rich culture, independent hotels with a clear identity, and experiences that are difficult to replicate.

Travelers are increasingly asking questions such as, “Where can I experience authentic Polynesian culture?” or “Find me a small resort somewhere unique.” AI excels at answering these inquiries, focusing on distinctiveness and relevance rather than size.

For many years, the global hotel industry thrived on standardization, with large brands replicating successful formulas across cities and resorts. This approach was effective due to distribution favoring scale. However, two significant forces are now reshaping travel: - The rise of the experience economy - The rise of artificial intelligence

In this AI-driven era, successful hotels may prioritize not only filling rooms but also cultivating the most valuable guests.

Revenue management is evolving from the question of “How do we maximize occupancy?” to “How do we maximize the value of the guest relationship for the guest as well as the hotel?”

This approach focuses on not just filling rooms for a night, but attracting the right guests—those who stay longer, spend more, return frequently, and advocate for the property.

With advancements in artificial intelligence and modern data tools, distinguishing between these guest profiles is becoming increasingly feasible. The future of hotel strategy may revolve around a new metric: Guest Lifetime Value.

It's important to recognize that two guests can generate the same RevPAR, yet their long-term value can vary significantly. One guest may stay for five nights, dine offsite, and never return, while another might enjoy a five-night stay, purchase additional experiences, recommend the hotel, and return annually with friends and family.

For decades, hotel performance has been assessed mainly through one metric: RevPAR (Revenue per Available Room), which is calculated by multiplying Occupancy by ADR (Average Daily Rate). While RevPAR offers insights into room occupancy, it does not fully capture the true value of guest relationships.

In the AI era, the algorithm can only recommend what it understands. Therefore, a powerful distribution strategy may simply be to be distinctive enough that the algorithm cannot overlook you.

The winners in this new era may not necessarily be those with the largest marketing budgets. Instead, success may favor hotels that can clearly articulate: • What makes them unique • The experiences they offer • Who their ideal guest is

The algorithm is becoming the new travel agent.

AI changes that.

Instead of a shotgun approach to demand, we can use a sniper rifle.

And in marketing it means focusing far more on relationships with guests who already know us and value us, rather than spending endlessly to acquire anonymous demand through intermediaries.

Rather than optimising distribution channels, we can optimise for guest lifetime value and advocacy.

That changes everything.

But when a hotel builds a strong guest flywheel — great stays → high satisfaction → repeat visits → advocacy → new guests — the dependence on intermediaries naturally declines.

Our most valuable guests are not the ones coming through OTAs.

One loyal guest can generate years of repeat stays, referrals, and group bookings. Their lifetime value can be multiples of a one-time OTA booking.

For the first time we can clearly see patterns in guest behaviour across bookings, spending, satisfaction and repeat visits.

OTAs will always have a role.

But it is finally helping us rediscover something the best hoteliers always knew: The most valuable guest is not the one who books tonight. It’s the guest who comes back again and again — and brings others with them.

AI didn’t invent hospitality.

Many hoteliers complain about OTA commissions. But the truth is simpler. Booking, Expedia and others didn’t take control of hotel distribution by accident. They solved three problems that hotels historically could not solve themselves.

AI is making it possible for hotels to understand their own guests at a level that was previously impossible. Instead of simply filling rooms through intermediaries, we can now analyse patterns in: • repeat visitation • spending behaviour • guest satisfaction • advocacy and referrals

Your most valuable guests are usually not anonymous travellers coming through OTAs. They are the guests who already know you, trust you, and come back.

What happens when hotels stop optimizing only for room revenue … and start optimizing for guest lifetime value? Because when that happens, the economics of distribution begin to change.

Instead of optimising only for room revenue, hotels should be optimising for: Guest Lifetime Value + Guest Advocacy

When a resort consistently delights the guests who love it most, something powerful happens. Great stays → high satisfaction → repeat visits → referrals → new guests. That flywheel reduces dependence on intermediaries and builds a far more resilient demand engine.

RevPAR measures rooms. Guest Lifetime Value measures relationships. And in hospitality, relationships are where the real long-term value lies.

With AI we’ve recently been able to analyse our own data in ways we simply couldn’t before. What we discovered was striking.

By maintaining this boundary, we can leverage analytics and productivity improvements while minimizing cybersecurity risks.

I’m keen to learn how other hotel operators are navigating this balance between innovation and risk.

Another exciting development bringing the power of AI to the global hotel industry. The pace is really picking up!

Market smarter: Deploy AI and direct digital tools to cut costs.

Diversify markets: Grow Australia to 33%+, build long-haul Aitutaki.

Raise yield: Deliver ever-better, more unique guest experiences and value.

Enable business: Support with tax incentives, training, lower interest rates and quality infrastructure.

Aim high: From middle-income to high-income — tourism can take us there.

Secure airlift: More seats, better schedules, strategic partnerships.

With smart long-term choices around airlift, infrastructure and policy, government can support our dynamic private sector to grow the economy primarily through tourism, aiming for high-income status comparable to NZ or Australia.

We need accelerated depreciation, matched training subsidies, expanded tertiary education in tourism, lower interest rates and increased funding for Cook Islands Tourism Corporation.

In the coming years, AI could allow the Cook Islands tourism industry to dramatically increase direct bookings and reduce commissions — potentially saving tens of millions of dollars annually.

We must steadily grow yield, not just volume. That means continually improving the guest experience, offering more value for money and earning the right to charge more.

We must capture more of the Australian market by positioning the Cook Islands as a premium, boutique and unique alternative – a special place, a special people, a special magic, as one of our best destination taglines once put it.

Lift yield through improved guest experience

Grow Australia to 33%+ of arrivals

We must grow yield by upgrading guest experiences and earning the right to charge more.

The Cook Islands must position as a unique, premium, boutique alternative to Bali, Fiji, and Japan.

AI could save tens of millions in commissions by shifting to direct bookings.

Occupancy may hold as Kiwis stay closer to home, but rate growth will be capped. We must find yield elsewhere.

Secure more airline seats

To succeed, we need clarity — and bold strategy.

Aim high: from middle-income to high-income in the medium term

Enable business with lower tax & interest rates, and upgraded infrastructure

Market smarter with AI & direct channels

If you work in hotel tech, distribution, revenue strategy, or AI — and share our vision for real-world solutions that move the dial on profitability — let’s connect.

This isn’t another dashboard. It’s not reporting decisions — it’s making them.

The impact of growing direct share by just 10%: +20% Net Room Yield, 100% Margin Flow-Through, +10% EBITDA — without raising prices or adding rooms

It learns and adapts over time — updating distribution decisions in real time to drive higher-margin bookings without guesswork.

This AI agent continuously ingests live data from our: PMS, ERP, CRM, Loyalty, Revenue Management & Rate Intelligence tools

The mission is simple: Unlock more profit from existing room inventory, Prioritize channels by cost-efficiency (Direct → Wholesaler → OTA), Boost net room yield with zero additional cost or staff.

Hotels don’t need more distribution channels — we need smarter control.

Let’s raise margin, not just RevPAR.

What Sets It Apart: It’s an operational AI agent, not a BI tool. It’s integrated across the hotel tech stack and it’s built to deliver tangible ROI.

With growth in air seat capacity and steady improvements in visitor yield, Cook Islands GDP per capita can realistically reach New Zealand levels over the medium term.

The government focus and considerable public funds currently being poured into seabed mining initiatives would be far better invested in tourism marketing and airlift expansion.

What we can and must do is diversify within tourism, the world’s largest industry – by broadening our markets, targeting new visitor segments, improving visitor experience and growing yield, while also spreading investment into the Pa Enua.

Consolidate daily connections to Australia with Jetstar services from Sydney and Brisbane.

For more than 50 years, tourism has been the lifeblood of the Cook Islands economy. It has lifted incomes, created business opportunities for everyone from roadside vendors to major hotels, and spread prosperity across our islands. In that time, our GDP per capita has nearly quadrupled. The biggest driver of that growth, by far, has been tourism

The COVID-19 border closures – a government policy choice, not a market failure – temporarily halted this progress. But the rebound since reopening has proven one thing beyond any doubt: demand for Cook Islands tourism remains very strong. In fact, demand now exceeds the availability of airline seats.

From 2010–2019, visitor arrivals and national income moved almost in lockstep: for every 1 per cent increase in arrivals, Cook Islands GDP per capita rose by around 0.8 per cent. In 2022–2023 alone, seat capacity rose by 22 per cent, visitor arrivals increased by 26 per cent, and GDP per capita surged by 31 per cent.

Airline seats drive visitor arrivals, which drive our economy, which in turn drive every Cook Islander's income – not only those directly in the tourism industry such as accommodation providers, restaurateurs, or tour operators, but also indirect participants like lawyers, builders, mechanics, doctors, teachers and police officers – even the salaries of our politicians.

This is why calls to 'diversify away from tourism' are misguided. The Cook Islands is a micro-economy. We cannot create an entirely new economic base out of thin air, nor would it make sense to try. It has taken 50 years to build the Cook Islands tourism industry to what it is today.

What we can and must do is diversify within tourism, the world's largest industry – by broadening our markets, targeting new visitor segments, improving visitor experience and growing yield, while also spreading investment into the Pa Enua. That is how we strengthen resilience.

Tourism is also the only industry capable of realistically bringing Cook Islands incomes closer to New Zealand levels – and thereby turning the tide of out-migration of Cook Islanders to New Zealand and Australia. With growth in air seat capacity and steady improvements in visitor yield, Cook Islands GDP per capita can realistically reach New Zealand levels over the medium term. This is achievable with a proactive public–private partnership. No other industry offers this prospect – certainly not seabed mining with any degree of surety.

Expand connectivity with our core New Zealand market through 2–3 weekly direct services to Wellington, Christchurch, Hamilton and Dunedin.

Consolidate daily connections to Tahiti with onward connections to North America and Europe.

Secure three weekly direct flights to Los Angeles to grow the lucrative North American and European markets.

Establish three weekly flights to Nadi, providing additional linkages to Australia, Asia, North America and beyond.

Develop a national airlift growth strategy, whether through expanded underwrites and/or a Cook Islands national airline.

Spread benefits through public–private investment in tourism growth in the Pa Enua.

Tourism is not without environmental impacts, but these are manageable. Waste management, reef protection, turtle and whale conservation and renewable energy programmes can and must be built into the growth strategy. Unlike seabed mining, tourism can be scaled up or down as needed, and every Cook Islander can participate and benefit.

The choice is stark. On one hand, tourism: a regenerative industry that has proven its ability to deliver prosperity, spread benefits widely and align with Cook Islands culture and environment. On the other, seabed mining: speculative, high-risk, unproven, foreign-controlled and more likely to destroy value for the Cook Islands than create it.

The next generation of Cook Islanders deserve a future built on sustainable prosperity, with a realistic opportunity to earn New Zealand standards of living right here at home. That future depends not on what lies on the seabed, but on the number of flights landing each day at Rarotonga International Airport. That is where the strategic focus of our national economic investments must be.

The integration of AI is not about replacing human roles but empowering them.

In just 90 days, a well-trained AI can acquire the necessary knowledge to operate at an exceptionally insightful level, potentially revolutionizing the hospitality tech landscape in the near future.

By automating data-heavy tasks, AI elevates the human touch to a premium service offering, setting hotels apart in a competitive market.

The future competition will not solely be among hotels but rather between the intellectual capabilities of human staff, enhanced by AI support.

In this evolving landscape, a hotel's fundamental value will center on its data repository and AI capabilities, surpassing traditional assets like physical infrastructure and brand reputation.

Reservations: AI has notably increased productivity and conversion rates.

Weddings: Reduced quoting time and enhanced customer satisfaction.

As the saying goes, 'May you live in interesting times.' Indeed, we are witnessing this transformation firsthand.

This transformation will lead to remarkable successes for some while others may lag behind.

Menu Engineering: Enhancing margins through AI-driven strategies.

In these transformative times, the synergy between human ingenuity and artificial intelligence will define the industry's winners and losers.

Operations: Streamlining processes and decision-making with AI-generated action plans.

Instead, we accompany guests on a frictionless voyage from fantasy to fulfillment.

This convergence defines the contemporary landscape of hospitality marketing.

The hospitality industry has long operated on a straightforward premise: providing a bed and a meal in exchange for payment. However, as observed through personal experiences, the landscape of leisure is evolving from transactional encounters to meaningful connections.

A noticeable transition is underway, steering away from the conventional 'bed + breakfast' approach towards the establishment of membership-style communities centered on shared interests.

Today's guests seek more than accommodation; they crave a sense of belonging within a community of kindred spirits, whether bonded by wellness, exploration, culinary delights, or other common passions.

For independent operators, this shift presents a significant opportunity to refine their brand identity and transcend mere lodging services.

By emphasizing shared interests, properties can nurture a sense of community that fosters genuine loyalty.

The focus is on crafting an experience that beckons visitors back not solely for the amenities but for the camaraderie they find.

How is your establishment cultivating community and embracing this new paradigm?

At our resorts, we've embraced an AI-first strategy to shift the paradigm.

AI empowers hoteliers to liberate themselves from dependency on OTAs, fostering a more lucrative and enduring business model, one direct booking at a time.

Social media sparks the dream. AI makes it real.

Transitioning to an AI-first approach in my resorts was never about reducing staff numbers. It was about empowering team members by giving them back their most precious asset: time.

Through collaborative work with AI, we've slashed the quote preparation time to just 30 minutes. This isn't merely an incremental efficiency boost; it signifies a fundamental shift in our operations.

This is where AI steps in to revolutionize marketing strategies.

The time saved now allows our wedding planners to focus on their strengths and passions: delivering exceptional, personalized weddings for our brides.

AI streamlines the routine tasks, enabling humans to concentrate on empathy, innovation, and the authentic interactions that elevate a guest's experience.

Our objective isn't about reducing headcount; it's about nurturing our people to prioritize what truly counts i.e. hospitable interactions with our guests!

The traditional boundaries of hotel strategy, often limited by technology constraints, are undergoing a significant transformation with the advent of AI.

Beyond mere optimization, AI serves as a groundbreaking force that liberates hoteliers from previous limitations, enabling the adoption of a more expansive strategic approach.

Real-time learning and scalable insights empower the integration of innovative strategies on a scale previously unattainable.

By leveraging AI to streamline time-consuming administrative tasks such as quote generation, booking management, and night audits, hotel teams are liberated to pursue a diversified set of objectives.

This technology enhances operational efficiency, allowing for a shift towards a more comprehensive performance evaluation beyond conventional metrics.

AI empowers hoteliers to redefine their business ethos, paving the way for a purpose-driven model that creates value for multiple stakeholders, including the environment.

Looking ahead, this expanded scope of objectives encompasses crafting hotel strategies that cater to various facets at a granular level: - Guest Experience: Fostering memorable and personalized interactions that leave a lasting impact. - Employee Well-being: Ensuring team members' happiness, support, and professional development. - Operational Excellence: Utilizing technology for intelligent operational enhancements. - Financial Sustainability: Adding value to ensure the business's financial health and longevity. - Community Engagement: Embracing a positive role within the local community and environment.

I believe true success is measured by a more holistic scorecard, and one of its most important points is often overlooked: being a good neighbor.

For me, this isn't just a feel-good phrase. It's a core business strategy that directly shapes our brand, builds trust, and secures our long-term sustainability.

By integrating a 'good neighbor' philosophy into our operations, we're not just running a hotel; we're building a purpose-driven enterprise that benefits our community and the environment.

For decades, the big corporate flags promised distribution, marketing, and brand recognition. But I believe the tide is turning. The significance of a brand is shifting from the large corporate entity to the unique identity of the individual property is coming to life.

Guests today are looking for authenticity, a unique story, and an experience they can't get anywhere else. They're scrolling through social media, seeing a specific property and its vibe, and falling in love with that individual identity—not necessarily the global chain it's attached to.

This creates a massive opportunity for independent hoteliers. By sharpening our identity and using technology like AI to connect directly with guests, we're in a prime position to thrive.

We can use AI to manage operations and personalized communication, allowing us to focus on what truly sets us apart: our unique story and our commitment to a one-of-a-kind guest experience.

The future of hospitality belongs to those who build a brand around their soul, not just their logo.

Social media ignites this dream, sparking desire and sowing the seeds for a dream vacation.

AI tools can play a pivotal role by: - Customizing the guest experience right from the initial interaction, tailoring information and accommodations to suit individual preferences. - Providing instant, round-the-clock responses to queries, fostering trust and eliminating obstacles. - Simplifying the booking procedure to such an extent that the initial spark of inspiration seamlessly transitions into a confirmed reservation.

By synergizing the emotive allure of social media with the operational efficiency of AI, we transcend mere room sales.

And ultimately, it should give us a richer picture of the entire guest journey — helping us not just respond to behavior, but shape it.

The goal isn't more automation for the sake of it — it's more meaningful, human hospitality, powered by tools that can finally keep up with the complexity of modern travel.

It should help us connect with guests before, during, and after the stay — not just with scheduled emails, but with smart, adaptive interactions that feel timely and personal.

It should look beyond a single guest profile to patterns across lookalike travelers — helping us anticipate what someone might need or value, not just what they booked last time.

It should bring in real-time signals like airlift changes, revenue management data, competitor pricing, weather, event calendars — and use all of that to contextualize the guest relationship.

An AI-first CRM, in contrast, should be built to learn — not just remember.

It’s time we rethink what CRM really means in hospitality.

AI shouldn't make hospitality less human. It should make it more so.

Most guests want to be known — when it feels respectful, consensual, and genuinely useful.

Done right, this isn’t data extraction — it’s a value exchange.

That might mean linking a social profile, sharing stay preferences, or answering a few simple questions.

Invite the guest into the process: “If you'd like a more tailored stay, to join our loyalty program, or just to see if our hotel’s a good fit for your next family holiday — tell us a bit about yourself.”

The future, I believe, lies in transparent opt-in models.

AI gives us powerful tools to personalize the guest experience at scale — from smarter CRMs to lookalike modeling and real-time journey mapping.

And it can price the entire guest journey — rooms, dining, wellness, tours, and events — as one tailored package.

Micro-communities of like-minded travelers, fostering emotional loyalty instead of transactional loyalty.

This is loyalty as relationship, not reward.

Hotels that make this shift will reduce competing on price and start winning on connection.

The future of loyalty is not about collecting points. It’s about collecting memories, experiences, and long-term bonds between guests and hotels.

What do you think — are hotel loyalty programs ready for this transformation, or are too many still stuck in the old model of points and perks?

Marketing Edge – Positioning as an innovator can attract PR and niche markets.

Hotel revenue management is no longer just about rate and availability. It’s about total guest value.

For years, revenue management has meant tweaking rates and managing availability. Important, but limited.

It can predict the relationship between review scores, ADR, and occupancy.

It can quantify how property improvements translate into higher future ADR.

Global Guest Reach – Crypto opens access to high-value guests in markets where traditional banking is slow or restrictive.

No Banking Cut-Offs – Guests can confirm a booking 24/7, regardless of time zones or weekends.

Faster Settlements – Large bookings can clear in minutes instead of days, bypassing international banking delays.

Clarify Your Settlement Needs Do you require instant settlement into local currency? Will your bank accept crypto-converted funds?

This is not science fiction — it’s already emerging. And as adoption accelerates, personalization will become the predominant differentiator in hospitality.

Check PMS & Channel Integrations Does the provider already have certified integrations with your current tech stack? If not, is your team willing (and able) to build and maintain these integrations?

It can incorporate real-time channel costs of acquisition, dynamically opening or closing distribution.

Evaluate Guest Demand Are your guests asking for crypto payments, or is it more of a PR play? Would this unlock new source markets or simply add complexity?

Weigh Costs vs. Benefits Compare transaction fees (typically <1%) with your existing credit card fees. Consider FX spreads if settlements are not in your home currency.

Consider Marketing Value Could being “the first” in your region or segment provide enough visibility and brand value to justify the effort?

Because a hotel—at least a great one—isn't just an asset to be sweated or a platform to be monetized. It's a community anchor. And the hotelier must be crystal clear on who that community is.

I’d love to hear from other hoteliers — is your property already accepting crypto, or do you see it as “not yet ready for prime time”?

AI is changing the equation

It is, quite simply, a great time to be a hotelier.

Hybrid hospitality can work. But only if it's rooted in a clearly defined community.

The future of hospitality is personalization at scale.

AI is unlocking a new frontier: Curated, guest-specific itineraries built in real time. Granular dynamic pricing that factors in guest profiles, market conditions, and the full journey — delivering personalized pricing and packaging for the entire itinerary. Anticipated needs before they’re expressed, enabling authentic hospitality at scale.

Within three years, I believe AI-enabled personalized distribution will become the predominant channel, redirecting much of the 'rivers of gold' from OTAs back to hotels.

This doesn’t mean OTAs will disappear. But I do expect their commissions to compress from ~30% today to closer to ~3%, as hotels win back guests through AI-powered personalization.

AI now has the power to rewrite the rules. It enables hotels to: Build loyalty with defined guest communities, offering curated experiences to like-minded guests instead of the shotgun, price-driven approach forced by OTA commoditization.

AI now has the power to rewrite the rules. It enables hotels to: Price intelligently at a granular level across rooms, dining, tours, and activities — factoring in lifetime guest value, competitive forces, and market projections.

AI now has the power to rewrite the rules. It enables hotels to: Reclaim the guest relationship by creating personalized itineraries that sell experiences, not just 'heads in beds.'

Hotels give away ~30% of every booking to OTAs. That’s about to change.

Do you see revenue management teams evolving fast enough to seize this opportunity — or will AI leave traditional approaches behind?

The hotels that embrace this shift will not only lift profitability, but also redefine their competitive edge in the market.

This is value engineering, not yield management. It shifts us from selling 'heads in beds' to maximizing the holistic value of every guest — for the guest and the hotel alike.

Don't chase every dollar. Build for someone, not everyone.

The real winners will be hotels that understand AI is not here to replace service, but to amplify it — freeing staff to create joy, connection, and meaningful memories.

Hospitality is returning to what it always should have been: deeply personal.

Hotel loyalty shouldn’t be about points. It should be about personalization.

AI makes it possible to reimagine loyalty from the ground up

Personalized itineraries that evolve with every stay, making guests feel truly recognized.

Tailored offers based on lifetime guest value, not one-size-fits-all discounts.

This is a game-changer, freeing up hours per day for selling.

The focus is on empowering our teams to achieve more, rather than on complex integrations with our tech stack or building guest-facing capabilities.

Our strategy is to apply basic, entry-level AI tools to enhance any digital workflow.

The secret isn't a complex, expensive system; it's a simple mindset shift.

The best way to understand its power is to start experimenting with it in our day-to-day operations, lock in value, and then expand from there.

The biggest lesson I've learned is this: The barrier to AI isn't the technology itself; it's our mindset.

This has allowed us to cut out significant commissions to third-party intermediaries, with the savings going straight to our bottom line.

The impact on productivity is huge—for example, a wedding planner can now generate a detailed, personalized quote in just two minutes instead of two hours.

The most significant impact has been on our cost of acquisition.

Our sense is that more and more guests want to feel seen, understood, and enjoy a sense of belonging.

AI-powered insights give us the opportunity to create more memorable life time, even life-changing, experiences.

We’re also using AI to try to deepen the relationship with our guests.

We’re trying to shift from 'heads in beds' to sharing co-created, memorable experiences.

To anticipate their needs better during the stay.

To know them better than we do now before arrival.

We’re not just using AI to just to achieve the efficiency gains of automation, as significant as those are.

And they’ll come back — not for discounts, but for the that special, unique feeling.

Not all guests will respond to this move but the right guests for our unique resorts will.

To continue the connection long after they’ve gone home.

Once proven, we’ll white-label the framework and scale across the industry.

Now your agents are trained, connected, and tested—put them in front of guests. Think: instant proposal generation, real-time room quoting, self-serve upselling, automated concierge support. When done right, this creates exceptional service and operational efficiency.

Once your agents are delivering value, it’s time to wire them into the heart of your business. That means pulling and pushing data to your PMS, CRM, and RMS systems—so decisions are made in real time, with full visibility.

To the hotel tech builders out there: focus on orchestration, not hype. And build with operators in mind—we need bang for buck, speed to value, and trust.

AI in hospitality isn’t about replacing people—it’s about empowering them, removing friction, and unlocking insight that was previously buried in emails, spreadsheets, and someone’s head.

We’re now linking agents across wedding planning, availability checking, and revenue management. These internal automations talk to each other—creating workflows, not silos.

PMS to enrich guest context over time.

We’re not over-engineering.

We’re not waiting for perfect integration.

AI isn’t about showing more options. It’s about surfacing the right option—faster, clearer, and with more contextual value.

Independent hotels can now do that themselves.

We begin with the hotel—not the platform.

We think bottom-up—not funnel-down.

We own our data and refine it daily.

We scale intelligence internally with every guest query.

You don’t need a sprawling tech stack to compete.

You need clarity, intention, and the discipline to train your models well.

This isn’t theoretical.

This is what happens when hotels reclaim the guest journey—clearly, courageously, and on their own terms.

AI isn’t the disruptor. It’s the equalizer.

You don’t need a platform.

You just need to start. And the best time to do that is now.

Context-aware systems, grounded in room types, inclusions, policies, and SOPs.

Specialized agents for weddings, groups, and MICE—trained on actual RFPs and conversion data.

Individual agents per property, each reflecting the unique voice and positioning of the hotel.

A complex snorkeling request? Resolved in under a minute.

These agents are trained on real operational data, tailored to our workflows, and already delivering measurable results.

Human-in-the-loop QA, involving our Sales, Digital, and GM teams.

Collective learning: one accurate reply becomes instantly usable across the entire team.

These tools are not guest-facing—yet.

They’re used internally by our reservations and sales teams to: Draft detailed, accurate responses instantly.

Personalize complex communication with context and nuance.

Minimize back-and-forth with guests.

You don’t need permission.

Free up team time for high-touch, high-value service.

We’re scaling with purpose—not overreach: Orchestration layer to unify all agents across departments and properties.

Selective integrations (when ready): Channel manager for ARI visibility.

CRM for behavioral and loyalty-based personalization.

Guest-facing agents only when we’re fully confident in accuracy, tone, and alignment.