Steve Quan, SVP of Hotel Enterprise Partnerships at Expedia Group, lifts the lid on one of hospitality’s most persistent revenue problems – rate leakage. Expedia’s latest survey found that 98% of hoteliers are affected, but what’s really behind the problem? Steve challenges the obvious assumptions. Is the bigger issue actually the industry’s entrenched fragmentation and complexity? And if so, are hoteliers unintentionally underestimating the size of the leaks because they “don’t know what they don’t know”? Steve suggests that hidden inefficiencies may be costing far more than many realise.
The interview also dives into a key tension – control versus centralization. Steve says solving rate leakage requires equal parts automation, centralization, and organisational alignment, but can hotels overcome the fear of giving up control? And how does Expedia’s network effect model change the enforcement game when bad actors misuse rates? Steve makes a striking comparison to personal finance tools, saying if we’re happy to centralize our own financial dashboards, why does the hotel industry still cling to siloed spreadsheets and manual processes?
Steve also doesn’t hesitate to call out AI as the transformational force shaping 2026. But what does “predictive and proactive” AI look like in distribution, and how far is the industry from real ROI?
Key takeaways
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Rate leakage isn’t just caused by bad actors — fragmentation and complexity are major hidden contributors.
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Confidence is low because visibility is low: If hoteliers can’t measure the problem, they can’t manage it.
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Centralization brings network-wide enforcement, not a loss of control.
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AI’s biggest future role in distribution will be predictive, proactive intervention.
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Quan’s “future dream”: make rate misuse an obsolete term the industry no longer needs.
