UK Watchdog Probes Data-Sharing Among Hotel Giants

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) announced Monday (March 2) that it was looking into the suspected sharing of “competitively sensitive information” among Hilton, Marriott and IHG Hotels.

The three chains used the hotel data analytics tools STR from CoStar, which is also under investigation, the CMA added.

The regulator noted in a news release that data analytics tools offer companies benefits that include more intense competition, lower costs, and faster pricing changes to better match market supply and demand.

“However, when rival businesses share competitively sensitive information – including through a third-party data analytics provider – this reduces the uncertainty competing businesses normally have about how each other will act,” the CMA said.

“This can affect how strongly companies compete because it makes it easier for them to predict what each other will do and coordinate their behavior.”

The CMA said that no assumptions about law-breaking should be made at this point. After a period of investigation, the regulator said it may issue a “statement of objections” if it arrives at the view that the companies have violated competition law.

IHG issued a statement Monday saying that it would cooperate with the CMA’s investigation, but offered no further comment.

PYMNTS has contacted the remaining companies for comment but has not yet gotten a reply.

In other data analytics news, PYMNTS wrote earlier this year about the way analytics and artificial intelligence (AI) can translate data signals into “experiences that feel timely, relevant and human rather than intrusive.”

It’s an important distinction. Research from PYMNTS Intelligence and AWS — from the report “Personalized Offers Are Powerful — But Too Often Off-Base” — shows that 83% of consumers said they were receptive to personalized offers.

“Yet only 44% of consumers who received tailored offers say those offers were very relevant to their needs, underscoring a widening gap between data availability and execution,” PYMNTS added. “Nearly half of consumers say they would switch merchants for more relevant offers, a signal that personalization has become a competitive lever rather than a marketing add-on.”

PYMNTS also took a closer look last year at the way hotels were using automation to speed up the payment process, in some cases shortening invoice cycle times by up to 70%.

“With automation, hours-long payment processes are completed in seconds, freeing teams to concentrate on higher-value activities such as supplier relationship management, contract negotiation and, crucially, delivering exceptional guest experiences,” the report said.

“This shift positions AP departments not merely as cost centers, but as strategic engines driving innovation and sustainable growth for the entire enterprise.”