Innovation

🏨 Located in Bangkok, Jasmine City Hotel adopted STAAH’s channel manager to overcome manual OTA management challenges. Switching to STAAH brought automation with features like real-time sync and bulk updates. Nutthiwut Jaikaew highlights time savings and fewer errors, enhancing team productivity and guest experience. AI-powered review responses and performance insights have improved online visibility and market responsiveness. The change led to better rate parity and increased bookings, confirming the effectiveness of the STAAH system.

💻 DirectBooker, backed by Steve Kaufer and Richard Holden, aims to integrate hotel listings into AI tools like ChatGPT and Gemini. This strategic move challenges online travel agencies such as Booking.com. Sanjay Vakil, CEO and co-founder, highlighted the need for growth beyond the current team of three to prevent OTAs from dominating. Vakil has previous experience at Google Travel and Tripadvisor. Co-founders include Theresa Meyer, serving as Chief Product Officer.

💻 Summer 2025 marks record travel and cyberattack surges, with 82% of North American hotels targeted during 2024's peak. Cyberattacks, driven by AI, focus on POS systems, guest Wi-Fi, and front desk tech. Downtime can exceed 12 hours, incurring million-dollar losses. Despite risks, many hotels lack advanced cybersecurity, with 40% citing outdated tech and 22% neglecting staff training. Only a fraction employ managed security services, crucial for reducing breach recovery time. Cybersecurity is essential for business continuity and guest trust.

💻 Hotels in North America faced a significant rise in cyberattacks in summer 2025, with 82% experiencing successful breaches in 2024. Attack frequency increased for 66%, and severity rose for 50%. Vulnerabilities include POS systems and guest Wi-Fi. Attacks often result in over 12 hours of downtime and hefty financial losses. Only 40% of hotels cite outdated tech as a major risk, while 22% lack regular staff training. Cybersecurity is crucial for guest trust and business continuity.

📖 In 2024, travelers from the U.K., France, and Germany were surveyed for the Europe Consumer Travel Report 2025, highlighting their trip-planning and purchasing behavior. Despite a positive travel outlook, rising costs and sustainability issues may impact plans. Key focus areas include travel frequency, destinations, duration, spending, and the influence of emerging technologies, such as social media. Phocuswright's Open Access provides unlimited access to in-depth travel research, supporting strategic industry insights and competitive advantage.

🏨 Luis Segredo, CEO of Hapi and Data Travel, LLC, was inducted into the 2025 International Hospitality Technology Hall of Fame at HITEC. Over the past six months, the number of hotels using Hapi doubled, partly due to innovations initially developed for Wyndham and IHG. Segredo plans to expand Hapi's adoption across hotel groups, focusing on simplifying processes for hoteliers. He emphasizes relationships based on integrity and fair play and advises against exploiting others for success.

💻 In the hospitality industry, Customer Experience Platforms (CXPs) are crucial for enhancing team productivity by automating tasks and streamlining operations. TrustYou’s CXP, designed for hotels, gathers and analyzes guest feedback, impacting reputation management and service improvement. It provides benefits like real-time feedback collection, AI-driven reputation management, actionable insights, and cross-department collaboration. Hotels using TrustYou's CXP report improved responsiveness, guest satisfaction, and stronger online reputation, which ultimately drive loyalty and revenue.