Governments have decided that for the greater good airlines should manage this issue - and it is probably the cheapest and most expedient way for passengers to be protected.
As a passenger it appears to me to be a very inefficient way to protect passengers.
It would be far more efficient if airports, which are on the spot and have the relevant local knowledge, provided the backbone of the system - twenty airlines trying to book hotels simultaneously is hardly likely to be an efficient process.
There is no reason to insist that airlines have to use the airport service.