Innovation

💻 HotelTechReport and Booking.com introduced a tool to analyze hotel tech stacks, identifying gaps and inefficiencies. The author, with experience managing tech budgets up to $100M, notes that 80% of tech projects fail. Failures arise from using inappropriate tools or addressing incorrect problems. Success requires analyzing business challenges first, not solutions. Tools focusing solely on technical solutions without understanding business needs may prioritize sales over client needs. For value-driven insights, visit the provided LinkedIn link.

🤖 Agentic AI, 2025's buzzword, highlights systems acting on our behalf. Adoption depends on human trust and technical feasibility. Easy wins include low-trust tasks like email drafts. High-trust, complex tasks like managing healthcare require more adoption time. Travel, a $9 trillion industry, exemplifies the challenges with outdated tech. Companies like Layla, OpenAI, and OTAs are tackling these issues. Success hinges on supplier integration, consumer trust, and navigating complexity, with frontier bets holding the potential for substantial market impact.

📈 DALLAS, Texas—In August, SiteMinder surveyed 700 hoteliers globally. 56% of U.S. hoteliers foresee a 6% annual revenue boost with faster integrated systems. 30% expect a 6-10% uplift from quick market responses; 26% anticipate 11-15% gains. 93% marked speed as vital, with 58% deeming it "business critical." Despite this, 36% update pricing monthly or less, and 79% spend over 11 hours weekly on automatable tasks. AI adoption interests 49%, highlighting a shift towards innovation.

📅 Mews, a leader in the 2025 IDC MarketScape for PMS, released updates in summer 2025 to enhance guest experiences in hotels. Key features include self-guided ID and photo uploading, wallet-based room keys with ASSA ABLOY Vostio NFC locks, and personalized guest connections. Additional enhancements involve dynamic email conditions, billing automation, and automatic payment routing. These innovations aim to reduce friction, streamline tasks, and improve services without manual intervention. The release is currently live.

💻 Leslie Bruce, CEO of Banff & Lake Louise Tourism, stresses AI as a change management tool. In 2011, IMEX America in Las Vegas showcased event tech like Social Tables, illustrating AI's potential. Banff & Lake Louise Tourism's task force identified 21 AI initiatives, enhancing strategy and workflow. Bruce emphasizes educating partners on AI, aiming for a cross-functional approach. With board support, they aim to steer AI's role in tourism, considering it integral to future business strategy.

☕ At the Innovation Festival, Brian Niccol, CEO of Starbucks, emphasized simplicity in customer interactions, discussing how Starbucks aims to enhance personal touches, like the condiment bar and personal handovers. This approach highlights the importance of emotional connection in both hospitality and AI sectors. Niccol’s insights stress that simplicity fosters trust, a vital lesson for leaders to create memorable experiences in cafes, hotels, and digital platforms. #InnovationFestival #Starbucks #CustomerExperience

💻 Glenn Fogel acknowledged at Skift that Booking.com faces disruption from Agentic AI. Partnered with OpenAI, Google, and Microsoft, Booking.com aims to leverage its data and scale. However, new tech bypasses OTAs, directly accessing inventory and pricing. This change could eliminate paid search, display ads, and 15% commission fees, empowering hotels to compete on product, experience, and value. To capitalize, hotels need machine-readable content and seamless booking flows. Otherwise, OTAs might continue to dominate.

🛫 Travelers' expectations in 2025 reflect a shift towards personalization and seamless experiences, influenced by AI and biometrics. 📊 Amadeus' "Connected Journeys" report highlights that the U.S. travel market grew just 1% domestically. 🔍 A survey of 9,500 adults across seven countries revealed that 34% of U.S. travelers use social media for trip ideas, while 36% of respondents globally found new destinations via AI. 📈 Baby Boomers lead AI use for travel, increasing 60% in one year.

📰 Starbucks has implemented an AI inventory system, reducing counting time from one hour to 10-15 minutes. Amadeus study shows travelers prefer self-service for work but human interaction for leisure. TikTok prioritizes OTAs over direct social bookings. AI reduces marketing costs by 19%. Failures in AI projects often stem from legacy processes. Despite AI's potential, OTAs resist integration due to revenue concerns. A hybrid model with human travel assistants may emerge to enhance service and efficiency.

💻 Stephen Burke, founder & CEO of RobosizeME, emphasizes the importance of automation in the hospitality industry. Hotels face challenges like staffing shortages and high guest expectations. Automation, through tools like RPA and APIs, can streamline operations such as reservation management and payment reconciliation, enhancing efficiency and guest satisfaction. The guide discusses basic to advanced automation concepts, encouraging hotel leaders to integrate these technologies strategically for improved operations and customer experiences.