You had a bully.
Every day, the bully took your lunch money. You gave it to him because you had no choice. He was bigger. He got there first. And everyone who wanted lunch had to go through him.
You know what you did? You started bringing your own lunch. Sandwich. Chips. Little juice box. Very proud of yourself.
You went to a conference about it.
You got a standing ovation for your sandwich.
And while you were up there at the podium, holding your sandwich, taking your bow, the bully bought the cafeteria.
The whole building. His now.
You still have your sandwich. Good for you. Nobody is coming to eat it.
Because here is the thing about bullies that every six-year-old knows and every hotel executive forgot: the bully does not stand at the door waiting for you to outsmart him. He finds the next door. And the next one. And he gets there first every single time because getting there first is the only thing he was ever actually good at.
You spent ten years learning to pack a lunch. The bully spent ten years buying every room lunch gets eaten in.
His name, by the way, is Expedia.
Now there is a new room. You have never been in it. Expedia moved in before you knew it existed.
Travelers are starting to go to that room before they go anywhere else. Not all of them. Enough of them that it already shows up in the data.
They go there and they ask: where should I stay?
And the room answers.
The room answers based on everything it was ever taught. And who taught it the most about your hotel? Not you. Expedia taught it. Booking.com taught it. TripAdvisor taught it. They had more to say about you than you did. So the room learned you the way they described you.
Expedia wrote your report card. The new teacher just read it.
You did not know that was happening. Fine. You know now.
The question every six-year-old would ask at this point is very simple.
Are you going to go introduce yourself to the new teacher? Or are you going to stand outside the building with your sandwich waiting for someone to come out and notice you?
It is not a prediction. The kids already changed classrooms. You are still in the old one.
