Innovation

💻 March 11, MURTEC: The Top Women in Restaurant Technology Awards & Rising Star Awards, sponsored by Milagro, honored White's innovative work at Union Square Hospitality Group. Her key initiatives include launching a next-day pay project to enhance employee financial independence. She champions AI for personalized dining experiences, predicting a streamlined future for AI-driven searches. White emphasizes mentorship's role in her career, valuing learning through teaching and coaching. Nominations for 2026 awards open December 1.

💻 Amadeus, leveraging OpenAI models on Azure, enhances its Hospitality portfolio with AI tools. In 2024, Advisor Chat rolled out to Agency360, saving analysts up to a day weekly. The AI tool integrates with Demand360, offering insights from 44,000 hotels and 35 million short-term rentals. Email to RFP, used by Omni Atlanta Hotel, streamlines group bookings. Amadeus plans further AI integrations in Microsoft Teams to improve performance insights and decision-making.

📱 Sojern and HotelKey partnered in April 2024 to enhance hotel guest experiences by integrating real-time feedback into HotelKey's PMS. This innovation lets hotels address issues immediately, boosting service and efficiency. Deployment is underway across HotelKey’s 16,000 hotels, including Red Roof. This advancement, supported by AI responses, is set to revolutionize hospitality feedback loops, enhancing guest satisfaction and operational efficiency, and will be showcased at HITEC and HSMAI 2025.

📈 A3M Global Monitoring integrates Riskline's real-time travel advisories into its Country Information product to offer corporate clients enhanced risk insights. A3M provides structured risk assessments for every country using over 40 subcategories rated on a five-level scale by analysts. Riskline's AI-powered, real-time reports cover emerging crises like political unrest and health emergencies. Allianz noted 800+ anti-government protests across 150+ countries since 2017, with 160+ in 2024, highlighting the demand for dynamic risk management.

📅 Profitroom collaborates with ResDiary to integrate restaurant management into a single platform for hotels and pubs. This partnership automates reservations and offers tailored guest packages, optimizing table occupancy and revenue. The integration reduces booking steps from six to four clicks and supports personalized marketing, helping venues combat rising costs. Patryk Luszcz emphasizes the strategic importance of maximizing F&B space, while Martin Verdon-Roe highlights the empowerment of businesses through efficient resource use.

🗺 Exoticca, an online tour company, introduced an AI-powered platform to optimize flight and trip planning. Capable of filtering 6.5 million flights daily based on duration, layovers, and price, it aids in creating up to 1,000 trip options daily during peak times like Black Friday. The platform, SmartFare, enhances travel planning by integrating flights with hotel, transfer, and activity options. CEO Pere Vallès highlighted recent funding for technology to advance Exoticca’s position in the connected trip space.

🏠 Eighty per cent of short-term rental hosts reject property management companies (PMCs) for cost reasons and desire direct involvement in operations. More than 12% who tried PMCs reverted to self-management. Tech tools now enable automation in messaging, pricing, compliance, and monitoring, empowering hosts to maintain high guest satisfaction. In 2025, 96.8% of hosts view technology as crucial. PMCs still offer scale efficiencies, but self-managing hosts exemplify the industry's shift to professionalism through tech integration.

📶 RelayM, debuting at HITEC 2025, is a compact, 35% smaller 5G device with enhanced usability for hospitality staff. It features WiFi 6E and dual 5G connections, monitoring networks 50 times per second to eliminate dead zones. The AI-powered TeamTranslate supports 30+ languages, aiding communication in over 4,000 hotels. RelayM offers a 1780 mAh battery for 10-16 hours of use, durable MIL-SPEC 810H design, and clearer audio with advanced noise cancellation.

📱 Sojern and HotelKey launched a real-time guest feedback feature in San Francisco, California, in August 2024. This integration, part of an April 2024 partnership, enhances HotelKey's PMS by allowing instant in-stay feedback and AI-driven responses. Aimed at over 16,000 hotels, including Red Roof, it offers immediate resolution to guest issues, improving service and profitability. Leaders from Sojern and HotelKey emphasize its role in operational efficiency and guest satisfaction.

💸 Duetto launched The Revenue & Profit Operating System in San Francisco, California, unifying hotel revenue tools with AI and automation. CEO David Woolenberg emphasized its innovation in hotel tech. The platform optimizes pricing, forecasting, and reporting across departments. Product innovations include GameTime, an RMS for limited-service hotels, and Advance, an AI-powered pricing tool. The strategic acquisition of HotStats enhances profit insights. This system positions hotels to adapt to market changes efficiently.