What DirectBooker does

DirectBooker is a B2B infrastructure company that aggregates hotel availability, rates, and inventory (ARI) data from major hotel chains and connectivity providers and delivers it to AI platforms through a Model Context Protocol (MCP) endpoint. Its product is purpose-built for the emerging AI-mediated travel discovery and booking channel, where AI assistants such as ChatGPT and Claude surface hotel options and route travelers directly to hotel booking pages, bypassing online travel agents (OTAs). The company addresses hotels' loss of top-of-funnel visibility as AI becomes the primary trip planning entry point, offering the aggregation layer that individual hotels and chains cannot economically build on their own.

The platform integrates with both supply-side partners (hotel chains such as Best Western, Radisson, and BWH Hotels, plus connectivity providers including SiteMinder, Cendyn, Shiji, DerbySoft, eviivo, and others) and demand-side AI platforms (ChatGPT, Claude, and forthcoming Gemini integrations). DirectBooker's flagship integrations are the DirectBooker ChatGPT App and Claude Connector, which enable conversational hotel search and direct booking. The technology is differentiated by its MCP-first architecture, which the company claims gives its data priority treatment by large language models over traditional SEO-optimized content.

DirectBooker earns revenue through a transaction-based take rate on bookings completed via its AI platform integrations, with pricing set on a quote-based enterprise basis. The company states its commission structure is approximately 5x lower than typical OTA commissions (which can reach 20%), positioning its value proposition around cost reduction for hotels plus customer ownership and the ability to surface direct booking benefits (loyalty discounts, exclusive offers) that OTAs cannot feature. The company was founded in 2025, operates with 1-10 employees, and is led by former Tripadvisor and Google Travel executives including CEO Sanjay Vakil, CTO George Madrid, and CPO/COO Theresa Meyer, with advisors including Tripadvisor cofounder Steve Kaufer. As of April 2026, DirectBooker had signed five of the ten largest global hotel chains and was live in ChatGPT and Claude.

Name

DirectBooker

Website

https://directbooker.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2025

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

DirectBooker is a B2B infrastructure company that aggregates hotel availability, rates, and inventory via Model Context Protocol and delivers them to AI platforms like ChatGPT and Claude, enabling hotel chains to capture direct bookings and bypass OTA commissions.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Travel Technology Infrastructure

NAICS

Travel Agencies (561510)

akta.pro primary industry

Booking Engines & Direct Web Booking (THALACAD)

Keywords

• Hotel distribution infrastructure
• AI travel booking
• MCP data aggregation
• Direct booking platform
• Hotel connectivity software

Headquarters

HQ city

Arlington

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Transaction/Booking Commissions: DirectBooker earns revenue by facilitating direct bookings between travelers and hotels via AI platforms. The company helps hotels avoid OTA commissions (which can reach up to 20%) by enabling direct booking through AI assistants, with hotels paying reduced commissions estimated at approximately 5x less than OTA commissions.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

DirectBooker is an AI-native infrastructure platform that aggregates hotel availability, rates, and inventory (ARI) data from connectivity partners and delivers it to AI platforms via the Model Context Protocol (MCP). It enables travelers to discover, compare, and book hotels directly through conversational AI assistants like ChatGPT and Claude, with bookings routed to hotel websites rather than online travel agencies. The platform is sold to hotel brands, independent hotels, and connectivity providers (SiteMinder, Cendyn, Shiji, and others) on a commission-based pricing model.

Product overview

DirectBooker is an AI-native direct booking platform that solves the top-of-funnel aggregation problem for hotel distribution. The core DirectBooker Platform aggregates availability, rates, and inventory (ARI) data from connectivity partners and delivers it to AI platforms via Model Context Protocol. Hotel brands and independent hotels connect through the platform, while connectivity providers (SiteMinder, Cendyn, Shiji, and others) feed their hotel data into DirectBooker's unified MCP endpoint. The ChatGPT App Integration and Claude Connector are the primary AI platform integrations enabling travelers to discover hotels and book directly through conversational AI interfaces.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• DirectBooker Platform for Hotel Brands Core platform product for hotel chain brands to connect their properties to DirectBooker's AI distribution network. It aggregates direct rates, amenities, and direct booking links for AI platforms such as ChatGPT and Claude, enabling major hotel chains to bypass OTAs and surface loyalty benefits and exclusive offers that OTAs cannot feature. Signed customers include BWH Hotels, Best Western, and Radisson.
• ChatGPT App Integration Native ChatGPT integration that allows travelers to discover hotels, view live rates, and complete bookings directly through the ChatGPT conversational interface using DirectBooker's aggregated hotel data. Delivered as a ChatGPT App for AI-driven travel planning and direct booking.
• Claude Connector Claude AI integration allowing travelers to search and book hotels through Anthropic's Claude assistant, powered by DirectBooker's Model Context Protocol endpoint for real-time hotel data. Delivered as a connector enabling Claude to surface aggregated direct booking options.
• DirectBooker for Independent Hotels Product offering for independent hotel properties to join DirectBooker's AI-native distribution network and reach travelers through AI platforms like ChatGPT and Claude without dedicated AI integration resources of their own.
• Connectivity Providers Integration Integration product for hotel technology connectivity providers such as SiteMinder, Cendyn, Shiji, DerbySoft, eviivo, GraceSoft, mirai, Paraty Tech, rainmaker, reseliva, RMS, and Roiback to connect their hotel data feeds with DirectBooker's MCP endpoint for AI platform distribution.

Quantifiable outcome

• Cut commissions by approximately 5x compared to OTA commissions (which can reach up to 20%)
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration5 records

AI capability4 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

16 partnerships are on record, tiered flagship, core and general.

• SiteMinderflagshipTechnology or IntegrationSiteMinder named DirectBooker as its inaugural AI demand partner in April 2026. The partnership leverages Model Context Protocol to provide AI platforms with live hotel data in real time. SiteMinder connects 53,000 hotels across 150 countries and extended its Demand Plus product beyond traditional metasearch into AI environments including ChatGPT and Claude through the DirectBooker integration.
• CendyncoreTechnology or IntegrationCendyn launched AI Connect using Model Context Protocol powered by DirectBooker. The partnership enables hotels to surface their direct booking rates organically in AI trip planners such as ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini. Cendyn serves over 32,000 hotel customers in more than 150 countries.
• BWH HotelscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerBWH Hotels partnered with DirectBooker for AI-powered travel planning as part of their digital transformation initiatives. This partnership positions BWH Hotels to capture direct bookings from AI platform searches.
• Best Western HotelscoreTechnology or IntegrationBest Western Hotels integrated with DirectBooker platform for AI-based hotel search and direct booking capabilities.
• Radisson HotelscoreTechnology or IntegrationRadisson Hotels integrated with DirectBooker platform for AI-based hotel search and direct booking capabilities.
• cultuzzgeneralTechnology or IntegrationConnectivity provider integrated with DirectBooker for AI platform data distribution.
• DerbySoftgeneralTechnology or IntegrationConnectivity provider integrated with DirectBooker for AI platform data distribution.
• eviivogeneralTechnology or IntegrationConnectivity provider integrated with DirectBooker for AI platform data distribution.
• GraceSoftgeneralTechnology or IntegrationConnectivity provider integrated with DirectBooker for AI platform data distribution.
• miraigeneralTechnology or IntegrationConnectivity provider integrated with DirectBooker for AI platform data distribution.
• Paraty TechgeneralTechnology or IntegrationConnectivity provider integrated with DirectBooker for AI platform data distribution.
• rainmakergeneralTechnology or IntegrationConnectivity provider integrated with DirectBooker for AI platform data distribution.
• reselivageneralTechnology or IntegrationConnectivity provider integrated with DirectBooker for AI platform data distribution.
• RMSgeneralTechnology or IntegrationConnectivity provider integrated with DirectBooker for AI platform data distribution.
• RoibackgeneralTechnology or IntegrationChannel manager/connectivity provider integrated with DirectBooker for AI platform data distribution.
• ShijigeneralTechnology or IntegrationHospitality technology provider integrated with DirectBooker for AI platform data distribution.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Tripadvisor: Travel meta-search and review platform. DirectBooker's CEO and CPO are ex-Tripadvisor, and Tripadvisor operates in adjacent hotel discovery and comparison. Comparable as a hotel-discovery and booking-referral incumbent expanding into AI.
• Booking.com: World's largest OTA with extensive hotel inventory and active AI integration efforts. A primary incumbent whose commission model DirectBooker explicitly aims to disrupt; comparable because they serve the same hotel-discovery-to-booking journey.
• Skyscanner: Global travel meta-search engine owned by Trip.com Group. Comparable as an AI-investing meta-search incumbent that competes for top-of-funnel hotel discovery traffic.
• Kayak: Travel meta-search engine owned by Booking Holdings with price-comparison across hotels, flights, and cars. Comparable as a hotel discovery and price-comparison incumbent layering on AI features.
• trivago: Hotel meta-search engine comparing rates across OTAs and hotel websites. Comparable as a meta-search incumbent in the hotel price-comparison category that DirectBooker effectively bypasses for direct-booking users.
• Google Hotels: Google's meta-search hotel product integrated into Search, Maps, and increasingly AI surfaces. Highly comparable as a top-of-funnel hotel discovery incumbent whose ecosystem DirectBooker integrates with (via Google hotel feeds) and competes against.
• Agoda: Asia-Pacific-focused OTA owned by Booking Holdings with deep hotel inventory. Comparable as an OTA incumbent with strong direct-hotel relationships that competes for the same supply-side partners DirectBooker signs.
• Expedia: Major global OTA and meta-search operator with AI-powered trip planning features. Directly comparable as a hotel distribution incumbent investing in AI-native booking experiences that compete with DirectBooker's value proposition.
• Trip.com Group: Major global OTA group operating Trip.com, Ctrip, Skyscanner, and Qunar. Comparable as a large incumbent OTA with active AI investments and global hotel distribution scale.

Direct peers

• Hopper: AI-driven travel booking app using predictive and conversational AI for hotel and flight deals. Most directly comparable peer in the AI-native travel booking space, though focused more on consumer-facing prediction than B2B aggregation infrastructure.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/directbooker

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about DirectBooker