Innovation

📱 Cendyn and Loyalty Juggernaut integrated their CRM and GRAVTY systems to transform hotel loyalty programs. In 2025, this partnership aims to enhance guest engagement, maximize efficiency, and manage costs amid global inflation. By leveraging unified guest profiles, hotels can personalize rewards and communication, fostering deeper brand loyalty and sustainable growth. This collaboration marks a shift from traditional loyalty systems, with a focus on guest interaction rather than static point-based rewards.

🚀 Corporate travel agency, Platinum, partners with AI leader Acai Travel to enhance operations. By 2030, Platinum aims to multiply revenue by 10 times. COO Ryan Potts emphasizes sustainable growth and personal client value. Acai's AI reduces agents’ repetitive tasks by up to 70% and speeds up responses by 50%. Targeting Australia’s AU$8 billion SME market, the partnership boosts efficiency and personalisation, preparing Platinum to expand services beyond travel bookings.

📈 Mews, a hospitality cloud company, launched an industry advisory board to advance hospitality technology. Founded in 2012, Mews aims to transform guest and staff experiences. The board includes leaders such as Charlie MacGregor of The Social Hub and Bashar Wali of Practice Hospitality. Mews CEO Matt Welle emphasizes technology's role in hospitality evolution. The board will explore trends, challenges, and innovations to create systemic change and positive social impacts in the industry.

📅 Dida launched its inaugural ‘Engage’ events in Chengdu and Shenzhen, China, bringing together over 50 top hotel brands from destinations like Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore. Participants included Marriott, Wyndham, and Las Vegas Sands, focusing on various travel market segments. With over 400 travel agency attendees, the events showcased Dida's advanced AI capabilities for online booking and marketing. The company aims to replicate this format across Asia to boost hotel brand positioning in growing markets.

💳 Advantage Travel Partnership teams up with Mastercard to enhance payment solutions for its members, aiming to streamline the travel ecosystem, which is valued at $2.2 trillion annually. Over the next 18 months, they will offer products such as Virtual Card Solution and Buy Now, Pay Later. 50% of corporate travelers are dissatisfied with current systems. This partnership focuses on efficiency, cost reduction, and global scalability, supporting expansive operations and offering advanced risk mitigation.

📅 May 22, 2025, a survey of 200 corporate travel managers across the U.S. and Canada shows growing dissatisfaction with traditional TMCs. 41% report inconsistent service; 36% cite poor tech functionality. 28% consider switching due to high costs (89%) and booking friction (57%). 66% of meetings occur outside managed programs, with 80% reporting poor integration. Travel managers seek AI-powered tools, with Direct Travel’s Avenir platform offering solutions. Steve Singh acquired Direct Travel in April 2024.

🗺 May 22, 2025, AI is revolutionizing travel planning. Google, OpenAI, Microsoft, and Expedia are shifting to autonomous AI agents, impacting OTAs and suppliers. Google’s Gemini and Expedia’s tools highlight AI’s role in travel decisions. These agents negotiate, book, and personalize plans by considering context like schedules and preferences. Travel suppliers and OTAs must adapt as AI agents handle end-to-end bookings, focusing on agent-to-agent negotiations for personalized travel experiences.

🛀 May 22, 2025: Cyber threats in the travel industry are escalating. Booking.com reports a 500% to 900% increase in phishing attacks. AI fraud is rising; two-thirds of UK adults can't spot AI-generated rental images. Third-party integrations, like social media and payment gateways, increase vulnerabilities. Human error, such as accessing systems via spoofed URLs, is a major issue. Education and training are crucial for defense. Cybersecurity is now a business imperative.

🍽 At the 2025 National Restaurant Association Show, Dine Brands Global executives Chris Padilla and Jason Suarez discussed AI innovations at Applebee’s and IHOP. They focus on data-driven insights to enhance daily operations. AI applications include ideation with Copilot, a Google-powered recommendation engine, and computer vision for order accuracy. Plans include AI for marketing, inventory forecasting, and franchisee support, emphasizing practical use over abstract concepts.

💻 Accor is developing a digital platform to streamline meetings and events bookings across its 5,600 hotels, set for phased launch starting late 2025. This ecosystem consolidates 2.5 million square meters of event space and over 800,000 guestrooms. Powered by MeetingPackage, it collaborates with technology providers like Oracle and Amadeus. Initial release allows bookings for small groups, expanding in 2026. Accor aims to enhance its presence in high-growth regions and integrate its ALL Accor loyalty program.