The NYU School of Professional Studies (NYU SPS) Jonathan M. Tisch Center of Hospitality and its Hospitality Innovation Hub (HI Hub), in collaboration with RateGain Travel Technologies Limited, and HEDNA today announced the release of the second edition of its industry benchmark report, The State of Distribution 2025.The report offers one of the most comprehensive views into how Sales & Marketing, Distribution, and Revenue Management are increasingly integrated across all hotel segments. It’s likely one of the most extensive benchmarking studies currently available in the hospitality industry.
Key findings from The State of Distribution 2025 include:
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AI adoption remains early-stage: While interest in AI is growing, it currently ranks lower on investment priorities due to gaps in training, talent, and integration readiness. Surprisingly, technology spend is focusing on consolidation, not AI: large chains are attempting to cut tech spend by unifying systems. Investing in AI tools is at the bottom of priority for all hotels as fixing parity and ARI management continue to pose significant challenges, requiring manual efforts.
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Commercial strategies vary by scale: Independent hotels are expanding teams and actively testing new technologies, while larger chains are focusing on system consolidation and operational streamlining.
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Distribution functions are becoming leaner: Even as the complexity of managing parity, APIs, and content grows, distribution team structures continue to shift as it becomes more integrated.
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Reporting practices are still maturing: 80% of hotels spend up to two days a week on manual reporting, highlighting ongoing opportunities for better tools tailored to distribution analytics.
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System integration remains a focus area: Many hotels, regardless of size, are working to improve data connectivity and break down silos to enable more effective cross-functional collaboration.
