This week: tools to get creative. AI agents coming to your computer (and legacy PMS). Hotels could shift to ads that generate demand.
Hello,
This edition turned out to be directed towards creative and AI, it just happens that the news I found most interesting this week is. But there’s more than that – so let’s dig in. And don’t forget to forward it to a friend.
Best, Martin
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AI taking over your mouse and keyboard
Over the last few weeks, several AI models have begun working as Large Action Models, meaning they can understand and replicate actions, not just language. Rabbit demo’d this recently, Claude just launched it, Google is working on it as well. I don’t think this is really the future – but it is an incredible bridge between the current world of typing and clicking towards computers actually executing tasks. This could be how hotels overcome clunky old PMS solutions. Creating AI interfaces that allocates rooms, housekeeping tasks, exports reports to upload them in BI tools etc. Everything that is repetitive and error prone. The future is that these things will be natively integrated in our systems. But until then (and that will take a while) such “task managers” might be the solution.
CLAUDE DEMO RABBIT DEMO MICROSOFT AGENTS
Turning AI into Jewelry
A while ago I needed some artwork for my office, I had some idea of what I wanted but I’m not a painter. I created the artwork with AI, had them printed on great paper and framed. A triptych of modern architecture painted in the style of 1900 abstract impressionists. I thought I would get rid of them after a few months – but I’m working on the next iteration now. You probably have an idea or two of something cool you’d like to have. A custom jewelry piece, a painting, a sculpture. Something nobody else has. AI is democratizing original creations. If you have an idea, you can get it made. Contrast that to a 100+ years ago where only a handful of people could come close to putting their ideas into form.
THOUGHTS INTO THINGS
About me: I'm a fractional CMO for large travel technology companies helping turn them into industry leaders. I'm also the co-founder of 10minutes.news a hotel news media that is unsensational, factual and keeps hoteliers updated on the industry. McDonald’s hated self-service
According to the Telegraph, the self-service system of McDonald’s is hated. I assume then that, people love to stand in line and wait so they can repeat their order three times while people behind them pressure them to move on. I read this and contacted a franchise owner to check the data. It turns out customers really like the kiosks and the app. They can walk in to a McDonalds, sit down, place the order on their phone and get table service. The resistance by franchise owners when the kiosks came out was “we want the personal touch”, sound familiar? If I had to chose between table service or standing in line, I know which one I would take. Hotels have more complex ownership structures than McDonalds, but they should really try and learn a thing of two from those who succeeded. Oh, and he mentioned that labor costs didn’t go down, they increased, alongside revenue.
CONTROVERSIAL TECH FRANCHISEE INTERVIEW
Channel Shifters
An interesting case study on how a hotel used paid search ads as a solution to shift more bookings to direct. It has been done before, but this study is interesting in that it was apparently on non-brand keywords (see my column below). Using broad keywords to generate additional direct revenue at an efficient (same as or cheaper than OTA costs) is not easy to achieve. I always recommend for a balanced distribution mix, OTAs, Direct, etc but that’s often utopic.
BREAKING FREE FROM OTAS
Compiling your own music
Google’s generative AI music composer (or should we call it a compiler) is quite impressive, a few keywords and some sliders for style – and before you know it you have a custom soundtrack. The visualisation shows how generative AI works, by analysing the existing content and “autocompleting” the next few seconds of music, one can quite rapidly create music for one’s own hotel. Could be a great way to build the soundscape for the hotel. But no matter how good the machines become we’ll need the artists who can infuse it with meaning.
GENERATIVE AI MUSIC
Podcast: I was invited on the Hospitality Daily Podcast and spoke about technology in hospitality, some thoughts on what wont change in hospitality, and why I co-founded 10minutes.news. Best, MartinTHOUGHTS:
Creating Demand vs. Capturing Demand
When it comes to advertising models for hotels, two distinct approaches emerge: ads that secure existing demand and ads that create future demand. While most hotels today rely on the former, there’s a growing case for investing in the latter, especially with the advancements in AI and online video.
The dominant model, capturing existing demand, is largely driven by pay-per-click advertising on platforms like Google. This approach is similar to a zero-sum game, where ads aim to secure bookings from travelers already looking for a specific hotel or destination. However, it’s an approach with its own challenges. Since Google’s policies allow anyone to bid on brand names, hotels must pay to ensure that travelers looking for them aren’t drawn to competitors. For Google, it’s been a gold mine. For hotels, it means paying to protect demand that’s already in the pipeline.
But, what if hotels could focus on the second type of advertising—the one that creates future demand? Large hotel groups have historically dominated this space due to their bigger budgets and reach, running broad campaigns that inspire travelers. Smaller, independent hotels, constrained by resources, often couldn’t match these efforts. But times are changing, and there are now new tools and opportunities for even individual properties to participate in demand creation.
As digital entertainment shifts more and more online, video and visual ads have become highly accessible, often available on a cost-per-click basis. Even more promising is the advent of AI-generated video, which could become a powerful channel for hotels to inspire travel to their locations. Imagine a well-crafted, visually stunning ad that doesn’t just promote a hotel but entices travelers to visit a specific city or region.
With AI-powered targeting, hotels can now reach potential guests who are exploring new destinations or just starting to consider a getaway. This type of advertising has the potential to be both inspirational and effective, engaging travelers before they even know where they want to go.
Collaboration with local tourism boards or destination marketing organizations is another avenue to consider. By partnering with these organizations, hotels can share costs for these inspiration-driven campaigns, ultimately drawing visitors not only to the destination but to their property.
While this approach requires a longer-term investment, the payoff is brand awareness—an asset that can drive revenue far beyond short-term booking ads. After all, as one hotelier put it: “There are always enough people coming to my city to fill my hotel. The job is to make sure they come to my hotel.”
