Navan, an AI-powered business travel and expense platform, has launched new hotel catalog infrastructure designed to address the persistent industry challenge of inconsistent room and rate information across various booking sources.
Inconsistent hotel room and rate information poses a long-standing challenge in the travel industry, often leading to confusion for travelers. This discrepancy can result in a booking experience where room descriptions and images do not accurately reflect the actual accommodations upon arrival.
Navan has addressed this issue by rebuilding its hotel engine in-house, creating a new catalog infrastructure. The platform integrates a vast inventory of 2.6 million properties, drawing from direct connections with hotel brands such as Wyndham, Travelodge UK, and Premier Inn, Global Distribution Service (GDS) content from Sabre and Amadeus, and Online Travel Agency (OTA) listings from Expedia, Booking.com, and MakeMyTrip. Existing solutions had struggled with the complexity of consolidating data from such diverse sources.
Dane Molter, SVP of Travel Marketplace at Navan, stated, “Travelers shouldn’t have to play detective to figure out if two different room listings are actually the same.” He added that by utilizing Large Language Models (LLMs) as a “universal translator,” Navan has eliminated duplicate listings in search results and enhanced the matching of rates to specific rooms. The goal is for travelers to see only existing rooms with comprehensive rate options and detailed information and photography.
The new infrastructure deploys two key technologies: a unified room catalog, which organizes and cleans information for all hotels on the platform, and a room intelligence mapper. The latter is an AI-powered tool designed to translate multiple disparate descriptions into a single, clear, and verified listing. These technologies are intended to prevent the underlying data complexity from affecting the user experience.
By making all rate options available for self-service on a unified platform—including loyalty-point-eligible refundable rates and last-minute deals—Navan aims to provide a best-in-class experience for business travelers.
This new infrastructure serves as a scalable foundation for the future development of Navan’s lodging marketplace, intended to facilitate the integration of additional inventory and direct connections.
