Innovation

CARROLLTON, TX, Aug 20, 2026 - HotelKey is expanding the rollout of its self-check-in kiosk following strong guest satisfaction and impressive performance metrics. Delivering round-the-clock service with the potential to save each property over 2,000 labor hours annually, the kiosk is rapidly emerging as a leading solution for modern hotel operations. Building on this momentum, NSR Hotel Group selected HotelKey as the exclusive kiosk provider for its G6 portfolio which includes 20+ properties across the United States. NSR also has properties across major brands like Wyndham, Choice, Marriott, Hilton, and Red Roof. "Integrating HotelKey's kiosk technology allows us to elevate the overall guest experience for every traveler," said Himanshu Sarvaiya, Founder and President of NSR Hotel Group. "The self-service option provides seamless flexibility, enabled by the friction-less integration into the HotelKey PMS and other on-property systems. Having the option to enable an on-camera agent to handle broader operational tasks acts as a powerful extension of our on-site teams." Shyamal Patel, President & CEO of Infinity Management Group, also recognizes the value of this operational shift. "I truly believe self-service technology is the future of the hotel industry, and owners who embrace it early on allow a competitive advantage. Every successful self-check-in reinforces that we made the right decision, the right investment." Infinity Management is also rolling out the kiosk at their California locations after a successful pilot at their Motel 6, Anaheim Convention Center. Engineered to complement property staff, the HotelKey Kiosk absorbs routine transactions. By handling automated identity verification, secure payments, room assignment, and instant keycard dispensing, the solution empowers teams to focus on high-value guest interactions. "We view our technology as a critical layer of operational support," said Aditya Thyagarajan, Co-Founder and President of HotelKey. "By automating routine administrative tasks, we help hoteliers optimize shift coverage, smooth out bottlenecks, and sustainably manage rising overhead costs." As the technology evolves, HotelKey continues to push the boundaries of what a hospitality platform can achieve to support on-site staff. "The HotelKey Kiosk is built to serve as a comprehensive front-desk support agent, ensuring a frictionless arrival experience from start to finish," said Fareed Ahmad, Co-Founder and CEO of HotelKey. "While we currently provide properties with the flexibility to leverage dedicated live support agents, our product roadmap includes upcoming agentic AI functionality capable of managing complex workflows, such as rate negotiations and customized guest requests. We are committed to providing hoteliers with robust, 24/7 intelligent infrastructure." Talk to Our Team Today! Visit www.hotelkeyapp.com or contact [email protected] to learn more. About HotelKey The HotelKey suite of products is a cutting-edge, cloud-based property management platform built on proven industry innovations. These advancements enable HotelKey to deliver a true plug-and-play solution that enhances revenue growth, streamlines operations, and simplifies guest interactions, empowering hotels and enterprise groups to succeed at scale. Today, HotelKey supports more than 25,000 contracted hotels, with over 15,000 live on its Hospitality Management Platform. HotelKey's customer base includes 10 enterprise hotel chains and more than 800 independent properties worldwide. About NSR Headquartered

💰 ChatGPT Ads launch today for European advertisers across 31 markets, including Finland. CPC rates are €3-5, cheaper than Google Search (€7-18), Meta (€2-4), and LinkedIn (€9-16). Cost per qualified lead is estimated at €45-110, making ChatGPT Ads the most cost-effective option currently. Testing with €200-300 is recommended to learn the channel before it becomes crowded, reminiscent of early Google and Meta ad pricing.

By the time a traveler reaches the booking page, most of the decision is already made. Here's what that means for hotels — and for the partners that support them. For a long time, the question everyone in the hospitality industry was trying to answer was the same: how do you get a traveler to book? A booking used to follow a predictable process. A traveler searched for hotels in a destination, compared a handful of options, read a few reviews, and clicked confirm. Hotels competed on price, location, and availability. The path from searching to booking was predictable. What I find most interesting — and most important for our industry to understand — is that this model no longer reflects how decisions are actually made nowadays. Hospitality is evolving before our eyes. Traveler expectations are shifting, technological change is accelerating, and economic uncertainty is reshaping how hotels and destinations compete. The Travel Dreams 2026: From data to delight report — drawing on the views of 500 leading hoteliers and 6,000 leisure and business travelers from the largest global travel markets — makes this shift impossible to ignore. For hoteliers, the question is no longer simply "how do I get booked?" It is: "where does the decision to book my property actually begin — and am I present there?" The decision moves earlier AI is influencing decisions throughout the process, but one of the most striking findings in the research is just how early in the journey travelers are forming their preferences. In many cases, shortlists are determined long before a traveler reaches any booking platform. Today, travelers are most likely to find AI helpful during the planning stage (42%), using it to research options, compare prices, and read reviews. This is followed by the inspiration and discovery stages (36%), while 32% find AI most useful at the booking stage itself. That order is significant: it suggests that by the time a traveler reaches a booking page, much of the evaluation and decision-making has already taken place. Travelers are increasingly using chatbots earlier in the journey to explore destinations and travel ideas. Five years ago, only 6% of travelers surveyed used chatbots to inspire their journeys – while today that figure has tripled to 18%. In fact, chatbots are now on par with celebrities and travel influencers and have bypassed actual travel agents when it comes to influencing voyagers’ travel decisions. Getting generative engine optimization (GEO) and search engine optimization (SEO) right, appearing in AI summaries, and reaching people online is now the most critical part of the strategy to drive customer demand in 2026, according to hoteliers and DMOs surveyed. What happens if your hotel is overlooked before the search even begins? If you're not on the shortlist before the traveler starts searching, you may never be on it at all. The real decision point Travel Dreams 2026 data shows us that traveler fundamentals have not actually changed that much. Travelers are still focused on factors such as price,

A curious click on your website, the specific room type a guest has chosen, a recurring order in your restaurant, or a detailed online review — every interaction is an…

There is a lot of thinking going into predicting what AI will look like in our industry. I think that is mostly futile. Ten years ago, very few people would have accurately described today’s AI, and there is little reason to believe we’ll do better predicting 2036. But preparing for that future is actually much easier than predicting it. Whatever future AI looks like, it will need two things: inputs and outputs. It needs to understand what is happening, which means data. And if it is going to be genuinely useful rather than just an impressive advisor, it needs to be able to do things. For hotels, the input side (to AI) is relatively straightforward: accessible, structured, reliable, sufficiently real-time data. The output side (from AI) means APIs that allow another system to modify inventory, update a reservation, create a task, communicate with a guest, move a room, trigger a workflow, and eventually do things we haven’t thought of yet. We have been talking about accessible data and APIs for years. AI just makes the reason for having them much more obvious. [Some have said that signing up for my newsletter is obvious as well.] There is a third piece too: control. A hallucinating chatbot is annoying. An AI with permission to change reservations, rates or payments can be expensive. Once AI moves from “tell me what I should do” to “do it for me,” permissions, security, auditability, reversibility and guardrails become dramatically more important. This is why I think the PMS becomes more important in an AI world, but perhaps not for the reason PMS companies would like. The PMS doesn’t necessarily need to contain the intelligence. But it sits close to the operational heart of the hotel. Future intelligence needs a reliable way to understand that environment and safely act upon it. So, instead of asking, “Which PMS has the best AI?” perhaps hotels should ask, “Which PMS gives me the greatest freedom to use whatever turns out to be the best AI?” That means APIs and support may ultimately matter more than today’s collection of AI features. And support is going to matter more, not less. This is slightly counterintuitive. We tend to assume better technology means less human support. But experimentation means things will break. Integrations will fail. Vendors get acquired. APIs change. Hotels are strangely allergic to technology failure, yet great hoteliers are incredibly good at operational failure (probably the best). Something goes wrong in hotels every day. The skill is fixing impossible problems while making everything appear smooth to the guest. Perhaps we need to bring more of that mentality into technology. The objective shouldn’t be to build a stack where nothing fails. If you are seriously experimenting with rapidly developing technology, that probably means you aren’t experimenting enough. The objective is to build one where failures are contained, recoverable and informative. We cannot predict the winning AI. But we can build a hotel tech stack that is ready to use it when it

The first integrated deployment in the Americas shows how hotel self-service can improve convenience without sacrificing the human experience. Atlanta, Georgia, USA, August 25, 2026 — Shiji and Rivalry Tech…

WASHINGTON, DC – As summer comes to an end, many travelers are taking advantage of the last long holiday weekend of the season. AAA booking data shows Seattle, Orlando, Boston, Denver, and New York are the top domestic destinations, while Rome, Vancouver, London, Dublin, and Paris top the international list. This is also the time of year when savvy travelers begin planning vacations for next spring and summer. Travelers are seeking memorable experiences, and these top Labor Day destinations reflect that desire. AAA members are embarking on Alaska cruises and river cruises, touring National Parks, and sightseeing in Europe. Many of our members are also looking ahead to 2027 and booking cruises and tours now before they sell out. Stacey Barber, Vice President of AAA Travel AAA’s Top Labor Day Weekend Destinations The Great Outdoors Labor Day weekend travelers are looking to squeeze the most out of the unofficial end of summer. Mild temperatures and longer days mean many travelers opt to explore the great outdoors. AAA bookings show that Seattle, Anchorage, and Vancouver are all top destinations, and there’s a common thread: Alaska cruises. AAA travel agents say U.S. National Parks are popular this time of year, with many travelers renting cars in Denver and Las Vegas and driving to Rocky Mountain National Park, Arches, Zion, and Grand Canyon. AAA car rental partner Hertz says Friday, September 4 will be the busiest pick-up day. In addition to Denver and Las Vegas, Hertz says Orlando, Los Angeles, and Boston also have high car rental demand during Labor Day weekend. History and Culture Whether it’s learning about U.S. history in Boston and Chicago or visiting ancient ruins in Rome and Athens, many Labor Day weekend travelers are seeking an educational experience. AAA travel agents say many members choose to explore historical cities, especially in Europe, with a guided tour. The planned itineraries, meals, and transportation offer peace of mind for travelers who don’t want to spend time researching and booking trips on their own. Domestic vs. International Whether travelers choose domestic versus international trips depends on their budget, schedule, and interests. Labor Day weekend travelers who are staying in the U.S. are paying 2% more for roundtrip flights compared to last year, averaging $750 per ticket. The price is even higher for people who are traveling to the top domestic destinations. AAA booking data shows those flights are 20% higher than last year, averaging nearly $800 per ticket. International flights are 4% cheaper this Labor Day weekend, averaging $1,240 per ticket. Hitting the Road For travelers taking road trips, gas prices are higher this Labor Day weekend compared to last year. The national average for a gallon of regular gasoline was $3.19 on Labor Day in 2025 when crude oil prices were lower. Before hitting the road, AAA recommends checking your tires, battery, and fluids to ensure your vehicle is in optimal condition. Packing an emergency kit with water, snacks, first-aid supplies, and essential tools like flashlights and jumper cables is

FCS Solutions , a global provider of hospitality technology, today announced the launch of FCS1 In-Room Guest Services (IRGS) , a browser-based guest-facing solution that gives hotel guests direct access to hotel information, services and in-room ordering from their mobile devices, without requiring them to download an app. Hotels are managing growing guest expectations for instant service while many properties continue to face staffing pressures, particularly across front-desk operations. AHLA reported that 65% of surveyed hotels experienced staffing shortages, high turnover, placing greater pressure on front-desk and operational teams. During peak periods, calls from guests may go unanswered, causing service requests to be delayed or missed. FCS1 IRGS addresses this gap by connecting the guest-facing experience with the hotel’s operational workflow. Guests scan a QR code to browse hotel facilities, order in-room dining, request amenities, arrange laundry services or report an issue. Each request is sent directly to FCS1 Jobs , where it can be routed to the appropriate department and tracked through fulfilment, reducing manual handovers and supporting hotel teams respond more efficiently. “ FCS has long focused on helping hotels optimise operational workflows and improve staff productivity ,” said Karen Bey, Vice President of Sales at FCS Solutions. “ FCS1 IRGS extends that capability by making it simple for guests to ask for what they need. By connecting each request directly to hotel operations, hotels can reduce missed requests and provide faster, more consistent service. ” FCS1 IRGS is cloud-based, API-first, customisable and supports multiple languages. Hotels can manage guest-facing information through a self-service content management portal, keeping details about facilities, services and in-room offerings up to date throughout the guest journey. FCS1 IRGS is available immediately as part of the FCS1 platform for hotels seeking to digitise in-room guest services while maintaining a clear operational workflow from request to fulfilment.

How AI can identify revenue opportunities and leakage — then recommend the actions a hotel should take

This post was originally published on this site. ​ Anastasia: Brett, let’s start with the belief that holds most small operators back. They think PR is for big brands with big…