Hotel booking has remained largely destination-led even as business events, exhibitions, concerts, and specialised travel have become increasingly venue-driven. While travellers often know exactly where they need to be, booking platforms still ask where they want to go. ProximIT is challenging that convention by shifting hotel search from destinations to proximity.
The travel technology company has developed a proximity-first hotel search platform that enables users to search accommodation around venues, convention centres, stadiums, hospitals, and other points of interest instead of cities. Designed as an infrastructure layer for existing travel platforms, ProximIT integrates through a single API, returning hotels ranked by their actual distance from a chosen location rather than a destination.
The concept emerged from founder Aman Narula’s experience in hotel distribution, where he observed that most booking platforms continued to build around the same search model despite changing travel 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 Aman Narula, CEO, ProximIT.
As conferences, conventions, and large-scale events became a larger part of travel demand, Narula believes the industry continued refining destination search instead of questioning whether it remained the right starting point.
“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.”
Built around where travellers need to be
Unlike conventional booking systems that begin with a destination, ProximIT starts with the place a traveller intends to visit. Whether attending an exhibition, sporting event, business meeting, or hospital appointment, the platform identifies accommodation around that specific location before presenting available options.
“Real booking intent is never about a city; it’s about a specific place,” Narula said.
Every hotel API today begins with a destination search, he explained, whereas ProximIT accepts a venue, event, or point of interest before returning hotels ranked by actual proximity. “The difference from existing OTAs isn’t just a feature; it’s structural,” he added, noting that the platform was designed as proximity-first infrastructure rather than another consumer-facing booking site.
Opportunity grows with venue-led travel
The model reflects a broader shift in travel planning, where accommodation is increasingly selected according to where travellers need to spend their time rather than the city they are visiting. That becomes particularly visible around convention centres, exhibition venues, and large metropolitan areas where travel time can vary considerably within the same destination.
Narula believes this makes India an important growth market.
“India’s MICE and corporate travel sector is growing fast, and the proximity problem is especially acute in cities like Mumbai, Delhi, and Bangalore, where traffic and distance genuinely determine whether a hotel is usable, not just convenient,” he said.
Rather than choosing from hundreds of hotels spread across a city, delegates attending exhibitions or conferences increasingly seek accommodation within walking distance or a short commute from the venue. Narula expects corporate travel platforms and MICE organisers to lead adoption, followed by ticketing platforms serving concerts and sporting events.
Building through partnerships
Instead of creating another consumer booking platform, ProximIT plans to integrate with businesses already serving travellers across corporate travel, MICE, and other specialised segments.
“My vision for ProximIT in Asia Pacific, and India specifically, is to become the proximity layer underneath the platforms already serving this region’s fast-growing MICE, religious tourism, and corporate travel sectors,” said Narula.
He said the company’s immediate focus is to secure integration partners, expand hotel supply across Indian markets, and demonstrate sustained booking volumes.
“Longer term,” Narula added, “I’d like ProximIT to become the infrastructure that travel platforms across the region rely on by default, much the same way payment processors became invisible but essential to e-commerce.”
