Innovation

📺 Amsterdam, 27 January 2025: PPDS launches the Philips Signage 5000 Series, the most powerful digital signage display capable of six trillion operations per second. It's AI-ready with screen sizes from 32” to 98”, available for hospitality environments. The series will debut at ISE 2026 in Barcelona, featuring enhanced usability, AI processing, and sustainability. It operates on Android 14, supports continuous use, and integrates the Philips Wave ecosystem for remote control and energy efficiency.

🏨 Parable Hospitality launched a new hotel management platform in Aliso Viejo, California, designed for transparency and partnership with over 30 hotels in California and Hawaii. Led by Scott Roby, they prioritize owner-operator performance and accountability. Their seven core differentiators include performance-based economics, integrated commercial leadership, and technology-based insights. Expansion is planned into the Western U.S. Alie Gaffan emphasizes talent development for better guest experiences and long-term returns.

✈️ Last week at FITUR, it was revealed that 55% of travelers now use AI, like ChatGPT, to plan their trips. Traditional booking methods are fading as AI handles availability, policies, prices, and recommendations. Notably, Expedia increased conversion by 35% with AI-powered search. The shift towards “agentic booking” is expected by 2026. Companies failing to integrate AI risk becoming obsolete, while those embracing it will thrive. Collaboration with Clicktotravel aims to enhance AI-native hotel presence.

💻 AUSTIN, Texas—In August 2025, Oracle announced a partnership with Red Sea Global (RSG) to streamline collaboration across its workforce using Oracle Aconex Cloud and Primavera P6. Serving over 23,000 users, these tools will provide real-time data access and project management efficiencies. This integration aims to support RSG's large-scale hospitality projects, enhancing collaboration and decision-making, and improving project outcomes through centralized scheduling, resource management, and advanced analytics.

🏖️ By The Sea Resorts in Panama City Beach, Florida, modernizes its guest services with Canary Technologies. Canary's AI-driven solutions streamline check-in/check-out, engage guests in real-time across 100+ languages, and protect with advanced credit card authorization. Over 20,000 hotels globally trust Canary's platform, including top brands like Marriott and Wyndham. By The Sea Resorts offers Gulf-front hotels catering to diverse travelers, enhancing guest experiences with mobile-first workflows and digital amenities.

📧 Google’s Gemini AI transforms Gmail by prioritizing email relevance and engagement, impacting hotel email performance. This AI curates inboxes by surfacing important emails, affecting marketers who rely on volume. High engagement is key for visibility; low-engagement email risks being deprioritized. Hoteliers should focus on guest value and segmentation, cleaning lists and personalizing content. Google’s update emphasizes relevance, trust, and respect for user attention, crucial for hotel marketing success. Cendyn assists hotels with email strategy, serving 35,000 clients globally.

💻 Hotels are adapting tech systems as they scale, according to Stayntouch's 2026 study with NYU and IDeaS. Surveying 300+ hotel professionals, 68% of independent hotels with 100+ rooms opt for Best-in-Class systems for growth. Smaller hotels favor simplicity; larger ones need flexibility. Booking errors and guest preference issues are key concerns. Satisfaction rises with specialized systems offering open APIs and integration. This tech evolution supports smarter decisions, reflecting a shift in maturing hotel businesses.

📊 9.5 billion passengers have traveled, marking a 3% increase from pre-pandemic levels. However, airport retail sales are 13% below 2019 levels. At E23, this gap is tackled through a technology ecosystem. Spatial intelligence from Outsight uses 3D LiDAR, while ShopperAI offers behavioral insights. Pladway's DOOH platform enables targeted campaigns in 48 hours. Radical Storage helps optimize campaigns using profiling data. This approach aims to recover the 15% revenue left unclaimed by brands and retailers.

📈 AI adoption is reshaping the hospitality industry, with 98% of hotel owners integrating AI into operations, though only 32% have it fully embedded. Top uses include operational and energy efficiency (64% and 54%). By 2026, 61% aim to expand AI in construction planning. Data privacy, costs, and integration with legacy systems are key barriers. Wyndham’s investments have enabled 5,000 hotels to adopt AI, boosting satisfaction by 400 bps. Nearly 90% find brand partnerships key in AI adoption.