Innovation

SAN DIEGO and DENVER, August 4, 2026 — Cloudbeds , the hospitality management system built for ambitious hoteliers who demand more, and Lighthouse , the AI Commercial Operating Platform for hospitality, today expanded their partnership, bringing Cloudbeds property data into Lighthouse Performance and Lighthouse Distribution. The connection feeds reservation, occupancy, rate, and revenue data from the Cloudbeds property management system into Lighthouse Performance, keeping pickup, pace, and segment reports current without manual uploads. Lighthouse Distribution adds the channel view, so teams can see whether their channel mix is helping or hurting those numbers. The expanded integration helps hoteliers: Automate performance and pickup reporting: Synchronize Cloudbeds PMS data with Lighthouse Performance to analyze pickup trends, booking pace, lead times, and length of stay without manually compiling spreadsheets. Compare performance across the portfolio: Centralize multi-property KPIs in tailored dashboards to compare ADR, RevPAR, occupancy, and other performance indicators across locations. Identify commercial gaps and opportunities sooner: Examine underperforming market segments, rate plans, and booking windows so revenue teams can respond more quickly and adjust their strategies. Evaluate channel health: Use Lighthouse Distribution alongside core business intelligence reporting in Lighthouse Performance to monitor rate parity across OTAs and assess whether each booking channel supports the hotel’s broader revenue and yield strategy. “Hoteliers shouldn’t have to spend hours wrangling spreadsheets just to understand where next month’s revenue is coming from,” said Sebastien Leitner, VP of Partnerships at Cloudbeds . “By deepening our integration around Lighthouse Business Intelligence and enabling Smart Distribution, we are giving operators a more automated and connected view of commercial performance. It bridges daily PMS operations with strategic revenue management and distribution, helping hotel teams act faster and distribute smarter.” “This is what commercial intelligence should feel like — Cloudbeds data flowing straight into Lighthouse Business Intelligence, with portfolio-wide rollups and distribution insight in one place. We’re proud to deepen a partnership that helps hoteliers move from reactive reporting to proactive revenue strategy and automation.” said Bill Daviau, VP of Partnership at Lighthouse . Cloudbeds and Lighthouse first announced their strategic partnership in January 2023. This latest expansion brings that partnership closer to the commercial decisions hotels make every day. About Cloudbeds Cloudbeds is the hospitality management system built for ambitious hoteliers who demand more. The Cloudbeds platform unifies operations, distribution, guest experience, and revenue marketing, giving operators a breadth of tools to capture demand, grow direct bookings, optimize pricing, maximize upsell revenue, and act on real-time intelligence within a single system. Designed to scale with independent hotels, large hotel groups, and multi-property portfolios, Cloudbeds is trusted by tens of thousands of properties in more than 150 countries. Founded in 2012, Cloudbeds is recognized as a top Hotel Management System, PMS, and Channel Manager, and Best Place to Work, by Hotel Tech Report for eight consecutive years. About Lighthouse Lighthouse is the AI Commercial Operating Platform for hospitality: the intelligence and automation layer that connects pricing, distribution, marketing, and performance management into a single system of action. Powered by the industry’s

Converge 2026, IDeaS Client Summit, made one thing clear to me. The revenue management system as we've known it for 30 years is turning into …

💻 Expedia acquired Layla, an AI-native travel planning platform founded in 2023, enhancing AI trip planning and booking. Radisson and IHG had integrated AI interfaces just a week earlier. Global business travel spending is projected to hit $1.71 trillion by 2026, with only a 1.3% trip volume increase. Meanwhile, 69% of travelers trust AI for booking, and the AHLA Foundation's anti-trafficking fund reached $10 million. Hilton's Canopy Bangkok Sukhumvit opened in Southeast Asia.

💻 Minor Hotels successfully implemented Oracle OPERA Cloud across 106 locations in 59 countries, enhancing its digital transformation strategy. The initiative aims to unify data and guest experiences across brands like Anantara, Avani, and NH Hotels, eliminating property-level server costs. This strategic partnership with Oracle supports global operations and AI-driven personalization. The next deployment phase targets hotels in Australia and New Zealand, focusing on seamless guest interactions and operational efficiency.

🏨 Evan Crawford from Pyramid Global Hospitality emphasizes the importance of knowing your identity in hotel marketing. As AI transforms discovery and proposal processes, hotels should focus on distinctiveness rather than trying to appeal to everyone. With technology handling 80% of tasks, the remaining 20% should be personalized. Sales teams and simplified RFP processes are key competitive advantages, enhancing human connections. The future is about relationships, not just amenities, as AI makes authenticity crucial.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — August 4, 2026 — Innspire , a leading hospitality technology company specializing in AI-powered guest engagement and digital experience solutions, today announced that Remington Hospitality has selected Innspire's AI Concierge, AI Task Manager, and Branded Mobile App platform for ONE | GT in Grand Cayman, a Hilton partner and the only Small Luxury Hotels of the World property in the Cayman Islands. This installation marks the first luxury boutique hotel installation for Innspire in George Town, and it creates one of the most technologically advanced and AI-enabled hospitality experiences in the Caribbean. Launching with Innspire's full AI-powered Guest Journey ecosystem, ONE | GT reflects ownership's strong vision for innovation and positions the luxury mixed-use destination among the region's most AI-forward hospitality properties. The deployment combines intelligent guest communications, automated operational workflows, mobile-first guest services, and a deeply integrated hospitality technology stack designed to enhance experiences for hotel guests, residents, and condo owners alike. At the heart of the platform is Innspire's AI Concierge , which delivers personalized, conversational guest communications 24 hours a day across SMS, WhatsApp, and in-app messaging. Whether guests need local recommendations, dining information, extra amenities, transportation assistance, or answers about the property, the AI Concierge provides immediate responses while seamlessly escalating conversations to hotel staff whenever needed. The platform supports multiple languages and helps reduce front desk workload while maintaining exceptional service standards. "ONE | GT represents the future of hospitality, where technology doesn't replace personal service, it enhances it," said Anne Frye, President of Innspire. "From AI-powered guest communications and operational automation to a fully branded mobile experience, we're helping create a property where every interaction is more seamless, personalized, and efficient. We are proud to partner with Remington and the ownership team to bring one of the Caribbean's most innovative guest experiences to life." Automating Operational Workflows Supporting hotel operations behind the scenes is Innspire's AI Task Manager , which automatically converts guest requests into actionable service tasks, routes them to the appropriate departments in real time, tracks completion status, and escalates issues when necessary. By automating operational workflows and reducing manual follow-up, the system enables associates to spend more time delivering high-touch hospitality while giving management greater visibility into service performance and operational efficiency. Guests and condo owners will also enjoy a fully branded ONE | GT Mobile App , serving as a digital concierge, communications hub, and food-and-beverage companion from pre-arrival through to checkout. The app provides mobile check-in and check-out, in-app messaging, dining and activity reservations, food and beverage ordering, personalized recommendations, and other guest services through a single branded experience. Soon, this deployment will include digital key functionality, fully integrated with Salto door lock technology to provide frictionless arrivals and seamless, keyless room access. Innspire's platform also serves as the connective tissue across ONE | GT's hospitality technology ecosystem, bringing together critical operating systems into a unified Guest Journey. The deployment includes integrations with: • Oracle OPERA Cloud PMS for reservations and property management • Oracle Simphony

This post was originally published on this site.As rising costs and ongoing uncertainty in hospitality continue into 2026, hoteliers are under pressure to do more with less, while still delivering…

📋 A management company grapples with AI integration across diverse property portfolios. The central challenge is balancing standardization and autonomy to avoid forced uniformity or fragmented autonomy. The strategy involves a portfolio-wide readiness assessment, standardized methods, and phased implementation. This approach ensures AI tools fit each property's needs while building portfolio-level intelligence. Governance is centralized, but operations remain local. The AIDURIX Hotel AI Readiness Assessment aids this process, enabling informed decision-making for management companies.

SEATTLE — Expedia Group today announced that it has acquired Layla, an AI-native trip planning and booking platform that helps travelers discover destinations, create personalized itineraries, and plan complete trips through a conversational travel agent. Layla has built one of the most innovative AI trip planning experiences, helping travelers move seamlessly from inspiration to itinerary creation across flights, accommodations, activities, dining, and transportation. The acquisition accelerates Expedia Group's AI strategy by combining Layla's advanced planning and personalization capabilities with Expedia Group's global supply, first-party traveler insights, marketplace scale, and booking technology. It builds on Expedia Group's broader approach to AI innovation, which includes incorporating AI across its core traveler experiences, partnering with leading AI platforms, and exploring new AI-native experiences like Layla. Together, the companies will create richer, more personalized travel experiences that help travelers move effortlessly from inspiration and discovery to booking. Layla has built an exceptional AI-powered travel planning experience that aligns perfectly with our vision for the future of travel. We know that our travelers desire personalized and complete experiences, and AI is making that possible in entirely new ways. By combining Layla's innovation with Expedia Group's trusted marketplace, world-class supply, and technology platform, we can accelerate our ability to deliver the next generation of travel planning and booking. Shilpa Ranganathan, Chief Product Officer, Expedia Group When Sardar Bali and I founded Layla in 2023, our goal was to make travel planning as easy as having a conversation. I’m incredibly grateful to our amazing team, who have worked tirelessly to bring us to this point. Joining Expedia Group gives us the scale, supply, and resources to bring that vision to millions more travelers around the world. Together, we have an incredible opportunity to redefine how people discover, plan, and book travel. Saad Saeed, Layla co-founder and CEO About Layla Layla is an AI-powered travel agent that helps travelers discover, plan, and book trips through conversation. Layla is based in Berlin, Germany and was founded in 2023.

CHICAGO ─ Global business travel spending is forecast to reach a record $1.71 trillion USD in 2026 , with the number of business trips worldwide expected to surpass 1.84 billion. The forecast highlights how rising transportation and travel costs are increasingly driving higher industry prices, ahead of the number of trips. This is according to the 2026 GBTA Business Travel Index (“BTI”) Annual Global Report and Forecast , released today which projects global business travel spending to increase 7.2% in 2026. The report’s first-ever analysis of worldwide business travel volume projects approximately 1.84 billion trips for work will be taken in 2026 . This is up from an estimated 1.82 billion trips in 2025 – an increase of 1.3% . The report also reveals that global business travel spending grew 8.4% in 2025 to $1.59 trillion , outperforming last year's forecast of 6.6% growth, supported by stronger-than-expected economic activity, easing trade tensions in the second half of the year and overarching currency exchange effects. Global spending is projected to surpass $2 trillion by 2030, one year later than forecast last year due to moderating growth rates after 2026, yet still supported by sustained business investment and international commercial activity. Unveiled by the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) during its 2026 Convention in Chicago, the 18th edition of the BTI—made possible again this year by Visa—represents the industry's most comprehensive outlook on business travel. The report covers 72 countries and 44 industries and includes survey insights from more than 4,700 business travelers across 66 global markets. The big story this year is that companies haven't stepped away from travel, but they are increasingly more selective and productivity-focused. While business travel spending continues to grow, the number of trips is rising more slowly, making it necessary for all of us to assess industry and organizational impact. Travel remains essential, and companies are critically disciplined about where, how and why they travel. Suzanne Neufang, CEO of GBTA As business travel spending grows faster than trip volume, companies are placing greater emphasis on the value of every journey. Organizations need greater visibility, control and flexibility to manage rising travel costs and measure ROI. Modern payment technologies help travel and finance teams better track spending, improve efficiency and simplify the travel experience, making it easier for companies to adapt as business travel continues to evolve. Edward Galvin, Vice President and Head of North America Visa Commercial Solutions Rapidly Rising Costs, More Moderately Rising Demand, Drive Business Travel Industry Growth In addition to the spending forecast, for the first time this year’s report provides global business travel volume for 2025 and 2026, adding perspective on business travel’s growth and the effect of rising prices. Global business travelers made an estimated 1.82 billion business trips in 2025. Asia and Europe accounted for the highest volumes, each approaching 600 million trips or more. This is driven by APAC’s concentration of business travel activity and Europe’s strong regional connectivity. The estimated 1.3% global increase in 2026 to 1.84 billion