Innovation

🌐 Lighthouse's new AI-powered 'Smart Distribution' enhances pricing and distribution for independent hotels. It automates public rates across booking channels and uses AI to recommend strategies, reducing OTA commissions and boosting revenue. Serving over 85,000 properties in 185 countries, it simplifies revenue management and increases direct bookings. Vincent Goemaere, Sr. VP, emphasizes its role in reclaiming hotel revenue control. This tool is essential for managing complex distribution efficiently.

📰 Travel tech sees a shift: Propellic's study highlights a move towards operator-direct bookings (~80%) over OTAs (13%), revealing users spend more time planning than booking. Clip-farming emerges as a growth hack, with $2k yielding 10M views and downloads. Greg Isenberg's distribution software idea boosts leads by 40%. Speedrun’s next cohort closes, offering up to $1M for startups. Andrew Chen emphasizes clearer pitches. McKinsey notes travel firms aren't ready for agentic AI scale, focusing on internal workflows first.

💻 I built an SEO + AEO monitoring tool that consolidates traffic data from Google, Bing, Perplexity, and others into a single dashboard. This tool addresses inefficiencies in switching between Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools, lacks AI tracking in GA4, and highlights the importance of Bing traffic. It simplifies monitoring numerous sites and offers 50% off for a month with a promo code. Check it out at [seomonitoro.com](http://seomonitoro.com).

📱 American Liberty Hospitality (ALH) expanded Infrasys POS, Stellaris Digital Dine, and Infrasys POS Move to 7 properties, including Hilton Houston Westchase, in 2023. These technologies streamline operations at locations like DoubleTree Galveston Beach and Embassy Suites Houston Downtown. ALH's centralized system enables flexible service, including poolside ordering and instant payment processing. Shiji's mobile solutions enhance service speed and efficiency, allowing ALH to adapt quickly and focus on guest experience.

💸 October 1st: Launching Niji Labs to redefine hospitality tech. The tourism industry faces a billion-dollar issue with vendor-driven tech that frustrates guests and burdens staff. Billions are spent enriching vendors, not enhancing customer or employee experiences. Niji Labs, an innovation agency, aims to prioritize guest satisfaction and real business outcomes, rejecting unnecessary complexity and ineffective "digital transformation." Ready for a strategy that truly transforms? Book a call: [link provided]. #Tourism #TravelTech #Innovation

📱 Caribbean hotels leverage digital personalization to enhance guest engagement and improve direct bookings, targeting travelers from North America, the UK, and emerging segments like bleisure travelers and digital nomads. The Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association (CHTA) represents the sector across 32 countries, advocating for direct bookings. Properties like Sailrock South Caicos use AI and predictive technology for personalized experiences, boosting guest trust and conversion rates. Intracaribbean travel has rebounded since 2022, despite challenges from carrier losses.

💼 Mews announced the acquisition of Flexkeeping, a housekeeping automation platform, in New York. Flexkeeping, founded in 2012, enhances productivity by 40% and reduces guest complaints by 45%. Its tools automate room assignments and facilitate team collaboration. Mews aims to integrate these capabilities into its PMS, promising revolutions in cleanliness and staff collaboration. Executives Richard Valtr and Matt Welle emphasize improved efficiency, while Flexkeeping's Luka Berger anticipates new standards in hotel operations.