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Josiah Mackenzie

47 posts

State of Hotel AI Research Surveys Hotel Leaders on Benefits and Barriers to AI Adoption

🏨 Josiah Mackenzie shared State of Hotel AI research findings in Washington, DC, based on a survey of hotel company leaders conducted with Nazpari Aydin for Destination AI. The research explored leaders’ attitudes toward AI, where it is delivering value, and barriers to adoption. The article provides no survey size, numerical results, or specific presentation date.
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Danica Smith: AI Is the Tool, but Hospitality Teams Need Time and Support to Use It

🤖 Danica Smith, Hospitality Daily’s Guest Experience Correspondent and MorningStar GX founder, shares a framework for hospitality leaders: AI is the tool, mindset the operating system, and hospitality the outcome. She advocates giving teams time and support to use AI, focusing experiments on useful outcomes, and balancing operational efficiency with employee well-being and guest experience. The episode provides no dates, locations, or numerical statistics.
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Danica Smith: None of 300 Barcelona Panel Attendees Would Let AI Book Holidays Without Approval

🤖 In late September 2026, Danica Smith discussed Barcelona’s second annual, two-day AI Summit with Josiah Mackenzie. The event reportedly attracted around 3,000 attendees and 300 speakers. At her hospitality panel, none of roughly 300 attendees would let AI independently plan, book and pay for a €2,000 holiday; only 10 agreed with approval. Their discussion highlighted trust, privacy, gender gaps and practical benefits from AI-assisted travel research and family scheduling.
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Actabl Leaders Discuss Moving Hotel AI From Experimentation to Results as GOPPAR Stands at 90% of 2019 Levels

🏨 Actabl CEO Steven Moore and CTO Joseph Benjamin outlined how operational AI could improve hotel profitability through reliable data, automated workflows and secure implementation. Actabl serves over 90% of the 50 largest U.S. hotel management companies and 180,000-plus hoteliers daily. AHLA data puts gross operating profit per available room at 90% of 2019 levels; hospitality quit rates are twice those of other private-sector employers. Their advice: start testing, verify results and enforce security safeguards.
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Loews Hotels Puts AI to Work for Guests and Teams, With Copilot Pilot Saving 6–7 Hours Weekly

🏨 Loews Hotels’ Dan Kornick outlined a vendor-first AI strategy in 2026, built on centralized data and human oversight. A three-month Copilot pilot saved employees roughly 6–7 hours weekly. Website chat answers about 75% of questions, while automated billing-statement retrieval emails copies in about two seconds. An Orlando hotel tested fully AI-generated guest replies. AI also cut marketing campaign creation from weeks to hours and helped shorten a construction schedule by two months.
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Alex Cabañas Says Reducing Hotel Staffing Needs by 10% Could Improve Industry Margins by 4%

🏨 Alex Cabañas, founder and CEO of Astound Ventures and executive chairman of Pyramid Global Hospitality, is targeting shrinking hotel profits through AI and innovation. After 300-plus industry conversations, he advocates “influence, involvement and investment,” prioritizing net unit margin. He estimates hotels are 10–15% understaffed and says reducing required positions by 10% could improve margins by 4%. His focus: better employee tools, higher pay, retention and energy efficiency—not simply cutting costs.
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Sloan Dean Launches AI Hospitality Group, an AI-Native Hotel Operator Testing Technology at Three Hotels

🏨 Sloan Dean founded AI Hospitality Group in June 2026 with co-founder Kishan and founding partner Zach to improve hotel profitability through AI. Development began June 10 at The Ameswell Hotel in Mountain View, California, a $30 million-a-year property. Its AI sales agent automates 90% of group sales responses, while a bilingual recruiter handles applications and interview scheduling. Dean says U.S. hotel net operating income margins have declined 20% since 2019.
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Cornell’s Chris Anderson Says Hotels Cannot Wait to Adapt to AI Travel Planning

🏨 Cornell’s Chris Anderson explores why hotels can’t wait on AI in a 16-chapter Hospitality Daily podcast. Topics include AI-powered travel planning at 01:41, guest reviews as trusted data at 08:09, and matching hotels with traveler context at 11:27. Practical discussions cover hotelier action at 14:34, technology integration at 15:37, and rethinking hotel offerings at 18:59. The final chapter starts at 20:23.
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Authentic Leadership and Why Kindness Wins

In this episode, hosted by our careers correspondent Emily Goldfischer , founder of hertelier , Charlotte Weatherall , General Manager of Corinthia London , shares what she has learned about building a career and leading as herself. Charlotte explains how her sales and marketing background prepared her to become a GM, why trusting her team shapes the guest experience, and how she balances ambition with family life. She also shares what hospitality needs to change to support women’s progression and why kindness belongs in even the most difficult leadership conversations. Read Emily’s original Hertelier article: Charlotte Weatherall, General Manager of Corinthia London, on Authentic Leadership and Why Kindness Wins . A few more resources: If you're new to Hospitality Daily, start here . You can send me a message here with questions, comments, or guest suggestions If you want to get my summary and actionable insights from each episode delivered to your inbox each day, subscribe here for free . Follow Hospitality Daily and join the conversation on YouTube , LinkedIn , and Instagram . If you want to advertise on Hospitality Daily, here are the ways we can work together . If you found this episode interesting or helpful, send it to someone on your team so you can turn the ideas into action and benefit your business and the people you serve! Music for this show is produced by Clay Bassford of Bespoke Sound: Music Identity Design for Hospitality Brands
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Meadowood Napa Valley’s Jeff Wielgopolan Shares Positive and Negative Experiences With AI as a Guest and Service Provider

🏨 Jeff Wielgopolan, Service Director at Meadowood Napa Valley and The Napa Valley Reserve, shares a recent experience using AI as a guest and discusses delivering hospitality as more travelers adopt AI. The former Senior Vice President of Learning & Development at Forbes Travel Guide explores AI’s positive and negative impacts on service. The episode provides no specific dates or statistics.
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