The Columns

💻 Hotel brands are evolving into digital entities, focusing on loyalty points and media buys, while operational expertise is left to owners. Brands become akin to OTAs, charging high fees without tangible service skills, risking the essence of hospitality. Owners face operational challenges and costs, questioning brand value. This shift prioritizes digital over genuine hospitality skills, prompting debate on whether it's evolution or a step back. Written by Mark Fancourt.

I’ve seen contracts set at 12%. TWELVE.For pushing a button, bidding on the hotel’s own name, and then never touching bids or copy again. If it weren’t real, it’d almost…

🍴 Massimo Bottura's three-Michelin-star restaurant epitomizes genuine hospitality with personal engagement and innovation. Over Thanksgiving weekend in Las Vegas, a high-end dining experience turned sour with a four-figure bill, a 22% mandatory tip, and poor service. At Wynn's Tower Suites, staff showed little hospitality to guests. The author criticizes Las Vegas's luxury posturing, asserting that true luxury transcends price, relying on grace and quality service beyond mere transactions.

I get a message from a prospect who wants to start working with me, but their current web agency is demanding an outrageous fee just to exit the contract. Second…

Back in ’99, Google swore it would never run ads. “No ads,” they said, with the wide-eyed innocence of people who still believed the web could remain a pristine commons—an…

📺 The new era of in-room TV has begun, transforming it into a monetized point-of-sale platform. Advertisements now offer one-click purchases directly from the screen, turning passive consumption into active commerce. This shift has significant implications for the hospitality industry, offering potential for increased revenue through real-time prompts and personalized data. However, the balance between enhancing guest experience and turning their sanctuary into a retail space is under scrutiny. The future of guest stays is poised for change.

💻 The article critiques the hypocrisy of revenue leaders promoting personalization while pushing rigid packages in hospitality. It argues packages, designed to simplify pricing, lack true personalization, which should empower customers to customize experiences digitally. Despite available technology, the industry clings to easily marketed packages, treating guests as statistical units. The author urges a shift to genuine self-directed choices, highlighting a gap in strategic vision. True personalization serves guests, contrasting packages serving operational convenience.

Last month, the usual October industry event took place. I won’t name it—you know which one. While scrolling through LinkedIn comments, I came across a colleague’s summary of the day:…

I’ve become the kind of man who needs three browsers just to know where he is, what he’s supposed to be doing, and sometimes who the hell he even is.…

💻 Amazon vs. Perplexity: the battle for user interaction intensifies. Amazon accuses Perplexity's AI "Comet" tool of unauthorized access and degrading user experience. This AI bypasses Amazon's curated shopping model, threatening ad-driven revenue. In travel, AI could disrupt direct bookings and OTA control. It's a showdown between platform control and user autonomy, with implications for retail and hospitality industries. Prepare for AI's impact on transaction models or risk losing control in the digital economy.