An introductory guide to hospitality Data as a Service: Making Lighthouse Data Solutions work for you

Data is now the cornerstone of strategic decision making across almost every industry. Guesswork will no longer suffice. To stay ahead, you need reliable insights based on data you can trust.

By embedding smart insights across your entire business or organization, you can make better decisions and drive growth with absolute confidence. 

Trusted by over 70,000 customers in 185 countries, Lighthouse now provides a comprehensive Data as a Service (DaaS) model: Lighthouse Data Solutions. 

It is the only platform to offer both real-time hotel and short-term rental data, transforming vast data sets into actionable insights to solve unique business challenges across a range of sectors, including:

• Destination Marketing Organizations (DMOs).

• Online Travel Agencies (OTAs).

• Hospitality tech partners, and more.

This guide provides an in-depth look at Lighthouse Data Solutions, explaining how it works as DaaS, what data is available, and how it supports your strategy with reliable insights to drive informed decisions and improve performance across the board.

What is Lighthouse Data Solutions?

A decade of industry experience has helped us build the travel industry's most comprehensive data ecosystem.

Lighthouse Data Solutions gives you access to one of the world's most comprehensive and accurate travel and hospitality data sets, precisely matched to your requirements.

Our DaaS platform is a one-stop shop for all of your travel and hospitality data needs – offering everything from historical and forward-looking data to granular short-term rental and hotel data, across supply, demand, pricing, and performance.

Customize these insights to your needs and integrate them directly into your decision-making process for faster, more precise actions.

The travel and hospitality industry’s largest data lake

Lighthouse Data Solutions is the only solution that combines comprehensive data from hotels and short-term rentals to provide an unmatched view of the entire landscape in one solution. 

• Demand: 1.2B hotel and flight searches collected daily.

• Supply: 16.4M hotels and short-term rentals profiled daily.

• Pricing: 1.7B hotel rates collected daily and 8M alternative lodging properties monthly.

• Performance: Up to 5 years of historical reservation level data and 365 days of forward-looking data to compare your destination vs. competing destinations.

The Lighthouse data engine 

When we say we house the industry’s most accurate and reliable data, what do we actually mean?

We mean delivering reliable, high-quality insights that businesses and organizations can trust. 

Our advanced data ingestion and extraction processes power large-scale deployments, enabling near real-time regression, segmentation, forecasting, mapping, and summarization across products.

Here’s what makes our data the most accurate in the industry:

• True-to-life accuracy: Our data reflects exactly what a hotel booker would see, sourced directly from the same channels as end consumers.

• Freshness you can count on: With a 99.72% completion rate over the past 30 days, our data remains consistently up-to-date.

And the reliability of our data is built on 12 years of continuous in-house innovation, featuring:

• Automated monitoring and recovery: Proactively identifying and resolving issues with a rapid feedback loop.

• Predictive pipeline data management: Ensuring on-time data delivery with precision and efficiency.

What sets Lighthouse hospitality data solutions apart

Lighthouse Hospitality Data Solutions provides powerful advantages that enable businesses to make smarter, more strategic decisions.

Here’s why industry leaders choose Lighthouse for their data services: 

• Real-time market insights: Stay ahead of the market with daily updates across all datasets, including reservations and benchmarks, while most providers update only 2-3 times per week.

• Granular data sets: Gain highly detailed and customizable insights tailored to your strategic business goals.

• Flexible integration: Seamlessly access data through APIs, custom dashboards, and automated feeds to fit any operational setup.

• Scalable and customizable solutions: Designed to grow and adapt to your unique business needs.

• Unmatched data accuracy: Make decisions with confidence, backed by the most reliable data available.

Who does Lighthouse Data Solutions serve?

Lighthouse Data Solutions serves a diverse range of organizations that will benefit from our data insights. 

While the following organizations represent our primary focus, our solutions are not limited to these groups. Any business or organization seeking actionable travel and hospitality data can leverage our expertise to drive informed decision making.

Destination Marketing Organizations (DMOs)

DMOs use Lighthouse data to:

• Better understanding traveler demand patterns.

• Optimize and track marketing efforts and resource allocation.

• Inform policy, regulatory reporting and strategic planning with data-backed insights.

Online Travel Agencies (OTAs)

OTAs use Lighthouse data to:

• Enhance pricing strategies and improve competitiveness through performance insights.

• Identify opportunities for greater market penetration.

• Gain a deeper understanding of traveler behavior and preferences to influence critical strategic decision making.

Investors and consultancies

Investment firms, owners and consultants use Lighthouse data to:

• Assess market trends to guide investment decisions.

• Conduct due diligence with robust market intelligence.

• Identify high-potential markets and investment opportunities with precise historical and forward-looking data.

Global/regional hotel chains and management companies

Hotels and property management companies use Lighthouse data to:

• Unify portfolio strategies with comprehensive data insights.

• Optimize revenue management through data-driven pricing strategies.

• Gain a competitive advantage with forward-looking insights.

Short-term rental property managers

Property managers use Lighthouse data to:

• Optimize revenue management through data-driven pricing strategies.

• Analyze their current market and other markets for future expansion.

• Gain a competitive advantage with forward-looking insights.

How does Lighthouse Data Solutions work?

Lighthouse has developed a sophisticated data pipeline that processes vast amounts of complex data, transforming it into meaningful insights that can be easily integrated into business operations. 

Here’s an overview on how the process works under-the-hood:

Step 1 - Data ingestion

We collect massive datasets from a diverse range of sources, including online data, PMS data, brand data warehouses, major search providers, CRS data, and more – ensuring high accuracy and consistency. 

Our multi-pronged integration methods give businesses access to the most current data available. 

With years of continuous investment in our technology, we’ve built a system that efficiently processes large data volumes, continuously monitors for issues and anomalies, and automatically resolves discrepancies before they impact users.

Step 2 - Data extraction

Once collected, the data is processed, normalized, and transformed into customer-specific insights that align with business objectives.

We've developed versatile data that works across various products and customers, enriched with detailed metadata to support a wide range of use cases, not just niche areas. 

This is made possible by years of combining a clear product vision with deep data engineering expertise.

Step 3 - Predictive modeling

Our proprietary Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) models leverage vast datasets to deliver near real-time insights, including regression, segmentation, forecasting, and summarization across products. 

This is made possible by advanced data analytics and predictive and generative modeling techniques applied to large-scale data.

Step 4 - Data classification

Our in-house trained metadata classifiers – covering areas like cancellations, taxes, and revenue segmentation – help overcome traditional manual data integration challenges. 

This is achieved through advanced segmentation and classification techniques applied to large-scale data.

Step 5 - Custom delivery

Insights are provided in various, flexible delivery methods to suit the needs of the end-users, including:

• APIs portal: Seamless integration with existing systems for real-time data access with self-service capabilities.

• Custom dashboards: Build tailored dashboards with intuitive functionality and visualizations that provide all your actionable insights at a glance. Dashboards include:
  – Flexible export options so you receive data in multiple formats to suit your workflow.
  – Customizable reporting allows you to apply filters and add personalized messages to tailor reports to your needs.
  – Automated delivery so you can schedule and send reports effortlessly from within the platform.

• Data feeds: Secure and automated delivery via SFTP and email, with flexible file formats including CSV and XLS for easy integration.

• BigQuery access options: Direct access to raw databases for in-depth analysis.

The key data sets provided by Lighthouse Data Solutions 

Lighthouse Data Solutions offers a suite of specialized data modules, each designed to address specific aspects of the travel and hospitality industry. 

The overview below provides a glimpse into the breadth of our offerings. Please get in touch to explore the full scope of the data sets that are available to support your business.

Supply data

This module offers a complete view of the hotel and short-term rental market in your destination. It enables you to monitor supply changes, assess demand alignment, and improve inventory management and capacity planning. 

As a DMO for example, by leveraging these insights, you can meet visitor expectations, make informed decisions, and streamline regulatory reporting.

Example metrics include:

• Number of hotels and/or properties

• Hotel/property type 

• Room count

• Hotel class

• Booking channel

• Listing nights

• Reviews and ratings

Demand data

Every booking starts with a search, and flight and hotel search data are a proven and reliable gauge of market demand, positively correlated to market occupancy.

Lighthouse Data Solutions helps organizations better understand travel intent and booking behavior. By leveraging forward-looking search data, you can gain valuable insights into where demand is coming from, allowing you to optimize your marketing spend effectively. 

Our data provides the most reliable and accurate forward-looking demand view up to 365 days in advance. This enables you to anticipate demand trends and craft an assured strategy to achieve your goals.

Example metrics include:

• Forecasted demand levels

• Price levels

• Top searching countries and destinations

• Hotel searches

• Flight searches

• Average length of stay

Pricing data

Lighthouse delivers the pricing intelligence that can make you a market leader. 

Optimizing pricing strategies requires access to accurate, real-time rate comparisons. By gaining insights into hotel and short-term rental pricing, promotions, and discounting strategies for your destination and/or competitors, you can ensure your product or service is competitively positioned with the right pricing strategy tailored to your target audience.

You are also able to identify pricing opportunities to strengthen your competitive edge and drive smarter commercial decisions.

With Lighthouse’s rate shopping packages (or fully customized solutions) you can tailor your data to specific needs, including:

• Rate Type: BAR, Lowest, Best-Flex, and more

• Source: Desktop, mobile web, mobile app

• Length of Stay: LOS 1, LOS 2, etc.

• Period: Next 30, 60, 90, 180, or 365 days

• Channel: Booking.com, Expedia, Airbnb, and more

• Frequency: Daily, weekly, or monthly

Example metrics include:

• Hotel name, classification and star rating

• Accommodation type

• Price

• Location

• Length of stay

OTB and reservation level data

Evaluating your performance with granular, reservation-level data including on-the-books (OTB) data, and benchmarking it against the broader market is essential for strategic growth.

With accurate performance data you achieve a clearer understanding of your results. Then by benchmarking against competitors, you add meaningful context to your insights.

Lighthouse provides comprehensive performance data, including:

• Forward-looking insights on occupancy, ADR, and RevPAR

• Up to five years of historical data, depending on the market

Why choose Lighthouse Data Solutions?

Choosing the right data provider is crucial for any organization looking for data-driven decision-making that impact results.

Lighthouse stands apart from competitors due to its detailed and holistic approach, advanced analytics, data quality, and client-focused delivery and exemplary customer experience. 

Here’s why Lighthouse Data Solutions should be your preferred data partner.

Comprehensive historical and future data coverage

Lighthouse offers one of the industry's most extensive data lakes, incorporating both public and proprietary data sources to provide a holistic market view. 

By leveraging a vast network of data points, Lighthouse ensures businesses can access insights that drive success.

Key statistics that set Lighthouse apart:

• 1.2 billion flight and hotel searches processed daily, offering a clear picture of travel intent.

• 16.4 million hotels and short-term rentals profiled daily to provide a complete market overview.

• 1.7 billion hotel rates collected daily, offering unmatched pricing insights.

Intelligent data insights for strategic action

Understanding market dynamics is critical to staying competitive. Lighthouse provides robust data tools that empower businesses to:

• Monitor market trends and shifts in competitive positioning.

• Optimize pricing strategies with real-time, historical, and predictive insights.

• Leverage forward-looking analytics to anticipate demand trends and maximize revenue opportunities.

Made to measure DaaS to fulfill your requirements

Lighthouse Data Solutions caters to a diverse range of organizations across the travel and hospitality sector, and beyond. 

Whether you're an investor seeking strategic insights, an OTA optimizing pricing strategies, or a DMO wanting to better utilize your marketing budget, Lighthouse is the leading hospitality DaaS provider, delivering insights on-demand, designed to meet your unique needs and business model.

Customer support

Lighthouse offers the highest-rated customer satisfaction in the industry with live support across the globe, including:

• Dedicated account management for personalized guidance.

• Comprehensive onboarding and training to ensure seamless integration and 5* customer experience.

For travel and hospitality data you can rely on, look to Lighthouse

Our goal is to turn big data into a strategic advantage by providing businesses and organizations with the insights they need to lead the travel and hospitality industry.

With Lighthouse Data Solutions, you gain access to the most comprehensive hotel and short-term rental datasets, helping you make informed decisions, drive innovation, and improve performance in an increasingly unpredictable market.

Want to see how Lighthouse data can work for you? Contact us today to learn more about Lighthouse Data Solutions and how it can support your goals.