# Harry Fielder

> Hotel technology advisor, digital strategist, and CEO of UMI Digital. Writing about hotel tech, AI, digital transformation, and the future of the agency model. Chair of the Hotel Marketing Association.

Harry Fielder advises hotel groups and hospitality brands on technology strategy, system integration, and digital transformation. He runs UMI Digital, a 17-person digital agency specialising in hospitality and travel. He also chairs the Hotel Marketing Association (HMA).

This site contains articles exploring hotel technology, AI in hospitality, digital strategy, and the evolving agency/service business model. Harry writes from a practitioner's perspective — he builds on the systems he advises about, prototypes with AI tools daily, and bridges the gap between technical capability and commercial strategy.

Key themes: hotel tech integration, the CTO gap in hospitality, AI-driven workflow transformation, middleware and API strategy, fractional technology leadership, value-based pricing in the age of AI.

## Articles

- [Google, OpenAI and Booking.com Are Making Opposite AI Bets](https://www.harryfielder.com/articles/the-great-ai-divergence): Travel's biggest players are reading the same AI landscape and drawing completely different conclusions. That divergence tells us more than any single strategy. [AI] (2026-03-31)
- [Will Agentic Commerce Solve Rate Parity Issues or Make Them Worse?](https://www.harryfielder.com/articles/will-agentic-commerce-solve-rate-parity): For twenty years, hotels have played whack-a-mole with rate parity. AI agents could either end the game or make it unwinnable. [Hotel Tech] (2026-03-27)
- [Alibaba Just Made Hotel Inventory Open Source](https://www.harryfielder.com/articles/alibaba-open-source-hotel-inventory): Alibaba's travel platform just open-sourced its OTA inventory for AI agents. The protocol they used could reshape how hotels think about distribution. [Hotel Tech] (2026-03-26)
- [Hyatt Builds an AI Discovery Tool. I Tried It. Didn't Like It.](https://www.harryfielder.com/articles/hyatt-ai-discovery-tool): Hyatt's new AI-powered search promises contextual discovery. In practice, it's a restricted wrapper that delivers generic results. The real question is why hotels keep building confined AI tools when consumers already have better ones. [Hotel Tech] (2026-03-25)
- [The Existential Crisis Over Selling Time for Money](https://www.harryfielder.com/articles/the-existential-crisis-over-selling-time-for-money): Every agency says they sell value. The reality is they sell time. What happens when AI makes the time part almost irrelevant? [AI] (2026-03-24)
- [Connected Systems with Disconnected Thinking](https://www.harryfielder.com/articles/connected-systems-disconnected-thinking): Hotels spend millions on technology but rarely have anyone connecting the dots. The result is a stack of powerful tools operating in isolation. [Hotel Tech] (2026-03-24)
- [Two AI Giants, Two Very Different Bets on Hotel Bookings](https://www.harryfielder.com/articles/two-ai-giants-two-different-bets-on-hotel-bookings): OpenAI and Google are diverging on the question that matters most to hotels. One wants to own the full booking journey. The other seems willing to let go. [Hotel Tech] (2026-03-24)
- [From Voice Note to Deployed App in One Commute](https://www.harryfielder.com/articles/voice-to-deployed-app): How a pipe dream about capturing car-time thinking became a fully autonomous AI development and content pipeline, and what it taught me about the real relationship between humans and AI. [AI] (2026-03-23)
- [Identify Your Defensible Value](https://www.harryfielder.com/articles/identify-your-defensible-value): Every technological shift demands the same thing. Not that people disappear, but that they find a new place in the value chain. Here's how to find yours. [AI] (2026-03-23)
- [Independent Hotels Don't Need an AI Strategy. They Need a Data Strategy.](https://www.harryfielder.com/articles/independent-hotels-ai-data-strategy): Hilton and Hyatt are embedding AI into everything. But if you're an independent hotel, chasing AI tools is the wrong move. Here's what to focus on instead. [Hotel Tech] (2026-03-22)

## Services

- [Fractional CTO](https://www.harryfielder.com/services/fractional-cto): Strategic technology leadership for hotel groups and large independents
- [Digital Transformation](https://www.harryfielder.com/services/digital-transformation): Project-based technology change management that brings every department to the table
- [Speaking & Events](https://www.harryfielder.com/services/speaking-events): Keynotes, panels, and industry talks on hotel technology, AI, and the future of hospitality

## Categories

- [AI](https://www.harryfielder.com/category/ai)
- [Hotel Tech](https://www.harryfielder.com/category/hotel-tech)
- [Tools](https://www.harryfielder.com/category/tools)
- [Infrastructure](https://www.harryfielder.com/category/infrastructure)

## Tools

- [Schema Markup Generators](https://www.harryfielder.com/tools/schema-generators): Free JSON-LD generators for hotels, rooms, restaurants, and event spaces
- [Hotel Schema Generator](https://www.harryfielder.com/tools/schema-generators/hotel-schema): Generate Hotel structured data (star rating, amenities, address, check-in/out)
- [Room Schema Generator](https://www.harryfielder.com/tools/schema-generators/room-schema): Generate HotelRoom + Product structured data with bed config and pricing
- [Restaurant Schema Generator](https://www.harryfielder.com/tools/schema-generators/restaurant-schema): Generate Restaurant structured data with cuisine, hours, reservations
- [Event Space Schema Generator](https://www.harryfielder.com/tools/schema-generators/event-space-schema): Generate MeetingRoom/EventVenue structured data with layout capacities
- [Website Speed Audit](https://www.harryfielder.com/tools/speed-audit): Free Lighthouse-based performance audit with hospitality-specific insights
- [Direct Booking Revenue Calculator](https://www.harryfielder.com/tools/direct-booking-calculator): Calculate OTA commission savings from shifting to direct bookings

## About

- [Homepage](https://www.harryfielder.com): Main landing page with recent articles and services overview
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- [Get in Touch](https://www.harryfielder.com/enquiry): Enquiry form for advisory and consulting work

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