Revenue & DistributionPublished October 3, 20261 min read

Technology won't kill the travel middleman, it replaces him

JSBy Joan SanzCurated by Joan Sanz. · October 3, 2026 · Follow on LinkedIn

Voice reading · ~1 min

The promise was simple: technology kills the middleman. A smaller plane skips the hub and an AI agent skips the OTA. In practice, someone in the middle still has to aggregate supply, take the payment and clean up when things go wrong. That's the thread running through the latest issue of Travel Tech Essentialist, which is all about middlemen and what happens when the middle gets squeezed.

My read: the middleman doesn't vanish, he changes shape. When an AI engine recommends and books without touching the OTA, the middle layer isn't gone, it moves to whoever trains that engine, charges the commission or absorbs the incident. That someone needs margin to operate. That's where the real business sits.

For a hotel or an airline, the useful question isn't how to skip the middleman. It's who will occupy that layer over the next two years and what commission they'll ask for. Anyone who understands where aggregation and payment concentrate in the new split has the edge. Anyone still believing software erases middlemen is in for a surprise.

Quick questions

Will AI really eliminate travel middlemen?

No, it replaces them. An AI agent can skip the OTA, but someone still has to aggregate supply, take payment and fix incidents. That layer remains, only its owner changes.

What does a travel middleman actually do?

Three basic things: gather scattered supply, process payment and handle the problem when a booking fails. Each one needs margin, so the layer doesn't disappear on its own.

Why can't an airline skip the hub with smaller planes?

It can on specific routes, but someone still has to coordinate the operation, sell the ticket and cover the incident. The saving on the direct route doesn't remove the need for a commercial aggregator.

What should a hotel or airline watch in this new split?

Where aggregation and payment concentrate. If the AI engine booking for you charges a commission, that's the new middleman and you should know what it asks for.

Is this good or bad for the industry?

It's an opportunity for anyone who reads the shift in layers. Commissions will still exist, but they may split differently, so it pays to position early.

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