Innovation

📊 IDeaS announced updates to Spotlight, a hospitality marketing optimization tool, available worldwide in late March. It uses forecasting analytics to guide hotel marketing teams by translating market demand and price-sensitivity signals. With the "Potential to Influence" score, updated daily, hotels can focus marketing efforts where demand is influenceable, optimizing spend and driving bookings. This helps hotels navigate tighter budgets, shifting traveler behavior, and demonstrate measurable marketing impact.

🏨 Shiji has expanded its "Move" framework in Berlin, Germany, to unify hotel operations, allowing hotel teams to manage various services like check-in, dining, and spa bookings from a single device. This mobile experience integrates Daylight PMS, Infrasys POS, and Meridian Experiences, promoting real-time guest service and operational efficiency. Shiji’s cloud-native system enhances data privacy and workflow speed, fostering a seamless, personalized guest journey. Early adoption shows hundreds of transactions completed in hours without fixed workstations.

🌎 Tourism Fiji partnered with Douyin Travel to introduce the Fiji AI Travel Planner on Douyin, China's social media app. This AI-driven pilot project suggests itineraries based on user interactions with Fiji-related short videos, aiming to convert digital engagement into travel plans. Tourism Fiji's CEO, Paresh Pant, highlighted the goal of enhancing traveler engagement and showcasing Fiji's diverse offerings.

💻 On June 3, 2026, the Skift Data + AI Summit in New York City brings together leaders like David Thompson (American Express), Shilpa Ranganathan (Expedia), and others to discuss AI in travel. Topics range from data orchestration to investment strategies. Prices rise April 1, with tickets at $715 for groups and $795 solo, increasing to $895 and $995 by May 15. Secure your spot for insight into scalable AI applications across the travel sector.

💻 Canary Technologies, unveiled the Hospitality AI Agent Studio in San Francisco, enabling hoteliers to craft AI agents for operations. Utilized globally, the platform provides pre-built and customizable templates for tasks like reservations and marketing. Co-founder SJ Sawhney highlights AI's transformative role in the hotel industry. The studio supports on-property and above-property use cases, offering hoteliers enhanced control and configuration flexibility to align with brand standards and operational procedures.

From PMS to POS and Payments, Shiji introduces a unified mobile ecosystem that frees hospitality from fixed counters and empowers service anywhere on property Berlin, Germany, March 3, 2026 –…

🍽 In Dubai, Chef Aiman, an AI culinary expert, designs innovative menus at the WOOHOO restaurant. The establishment blends technology and sustainability, using ingredients like meat trimmings, and features a futuristic atmosphere with shifting blue lighting and cyberpunk-inspired lounges. Co-founder Ahmet Oytun Cakir emphasizes enhancing creativity, not replacing chefs. The restaurant's design includes bronze-toned furniture and panoramic views, offering a unique dining experience where technology and art meet.

📈 RateGain is merging two key acquisitions, Sojern and Adara, into a single company under the Sojern brand. This move, announced exclusively to Skift, aims to enhance travel ad targeting and booking tracking. Demand Booster, a digital ad business, will also be integrated to boost direct hotel bookings. With AI interfaces reshaping travel interactions, owning and utilizing travel data is becoming increasingly valuable for effectively targeting ads and monitoring bookings.