Destination has long been the starting point for hotel booking, but it is no longer the reason many journeys begin. Conferences, sporting events, concerts, university visits, and medical appointments increasingly define travel plans, prompting a broader rethink of how accommodation is searched, discovered, and recommended.
The travel industry has spent decades refining destination-based booking, making it faster, more personalised, and easier to navigate. Yet, as travel becomes increasingly purpose-driven, a growing number of journeys revolve around a single venue rather than an entire city. Whether attending a convention, visiting a hospital, or watching a sporting event, travellers often know precisely where they need to be before they begin searching for accommodation.
Aman Narula, CEO, ProximIT, believes the industry’s existing search model no longer reflects that behaviour.
“I kept watching the same pattern: every hotel API, every booking platform, every supplier selling essentially the same destination-based search, just repackaged with a different brand on top,” said Narula.
As conferences, exhibitions, and large-scale events became a larger part of global travel, the technology underpinning hotel booking remained largely unchanged.
“I didn’t think the industry needed a better version of destination search,” he said. “I thought it needed an entirely different starting point – one built around place, not city.”
From geography to traveller intent
Traditional booking platforms ask users where they want to go before helping them find accommodation. Yet the question many travellers are trying to answer is not which city they are visiting, but how close they can stay to a convention centre, stadium, hospital, university, or event venue.
“Real booking intent is never about a city; it’s about a specific place,” Narula said.
He argues that proximity should become the foundation of hotel search rather than an option applied after results have already been generated. Instead of filtering hundreds of properties spread across a destination, travellers increasingly expect accommodation recommendations that reflect where they actually intend to spend their time.
AI is changing how travel is understood
Artificial intelligence is expected to accelerate that transition by enabling booking platforms to understand the purpose behind a trip rather than relying solely on destination inputs.
“Over the next five years, I think hotel search stops looking anything like a search bar with filters,” Narula said.
Rather than simply processing a destination, future booking platforms are likely to interpret why someone is travelling, combining traveller intent with location intelligence to surface accommodation that aligns with the purpose of the journey.
“AI is going to let platforms understand intent directly, not just where someone wants to go, but why they’re going and what they actually need once they get there,” he added.
Narula believes location intelligence forms the layer beneath that evolution, allowing search to move closer to recommendations than queries.
Planning journeys around purpose
The same thinking could reshape itinerary planning beyond hotel bookings. Accommodation recommendations may increasingly be based on a combination of attractions, venues, meetings, or activities rather than a single destination selected at the start of the planning process.
“Hotels are just the first use case because the need there is the most obvious and immediate,” Narula said.
Looking ahead, he expects travel planning to move away from organising trips around destinations towards organising them around experiences and traveller interests.
“For travel agencies, that means moving away from planning a trip around a destination and instead planning it around what a traveller actually wants to do and see,” he said.
Summing up the shift, Narula added: “Proximity isn’t a filter you apply after searching; it’s the starting point. The platforms that win over the next five years will be the ones that stopped asking travellers to tell them a city, and started understanding where they actually need to be.”
Rahul Bhadana is a digital editor at TravTalk with experience spanning multiple content niches, with a strong focus on travel trade journalism and digital publishing. A graduate of Delhi University, his work covers editorial writing, content strategy and platform-led storytelling, supporting TravTalk’s digital growth and industry engagement. A technology enthusiast, he enjoys films, poetry and exploring new ideas across media and culture.
