Innovation

📈 SOCi's 2025 Consumer Behavior Index reveals 83% of consumers still use traditional search engines, but social media (73%), navigation apps (58%), review sites (19%), and AI tools (19%) are diversifying search habits. Traditional search impressions have dropped 10% year-over-year. Gen Z averages 3.6 platforms before making purchase decisions, favoring Instagram and TikTok over Google for local searches. Gartner predicts a 25% drop in search demand by 2026, with current trends aligning with this projection. Multi-location brands risk losing visibility unless they adapt to the fragmented search landscape.

🍕 Hotel Equities and Springboard Hospitality announced a strategic merger effective May 1, creating a hotel management company with a broad portfolio across the US, Canada, the Caribbean, and Latin America. The combined company will be led by CEO Ben Rafter and Chairman Brad Rahinsky, focusing on value for hotel owners in various segments. The merger unites Hotel Equities' performance in branded assets and Springboard Hospitality's expertise in independent properties, providing a full suite of services to support growth and expanded services.

💾 Hotels must improve direct bookings via their website in 2025. A web booking engine can enhance site conversion and increase direct sales. The blog article by Debiprasad Sarangi was last modified on 2025-05-08, providing tips to achieve this goal for the hospitality industry.

📈 Companies harnessing customer behavior data with Customer Data Platforms (CDPs) see 85% higher sales growth and over 25% increased gross margin compared to peers. CDPs bring together disparate data, offering a 360° view of guests and enabling personalized marketing, hyper-relevant experiences, data-driven decisions, and increased revenue across hotel departments. With CDPs, hotels can achieve higher direct bookings, increased ancillary revenue, and reduced churn, all by leveraging actionable insights from unified guest profiles.

🍳 Saladplate, part of Informa Markets, serves as the official content hub for the Hospitality, Food, and Beverage industry, offering weekly news updates, a monthly newsletter, and a bi-monthly e-magazine. It grants exclusive access to a directory of over 10,000 brands, companies, and products, alongside registration and updates for over 35 international trade events.

📌 Protect Group aims to protect $7 billion in travel/event bookings by end of 2025. Its Travel, Tours & OTAs vertical saw 54% year-on-year growth. The core product, Refund Protect, offers ticket refunds under unforeseen circumstances. Protect Plus includes services like flight delay compensation and eSIM solutions. AI-driven Pulse platform enhances customer experience. Chief Product & Marketing Officer Jason Walsh emphasizes the balance of customer experience and revenue growth.

📌 JTB Business Travel, a Canadian company, announced a new brand identity, including a new logo and color palette, as part of a global transformation led by JTB Corp. This follows JTB Corp's rebrand in 2022 aimed at unifying business travel entities. Geert de Boo, VP of Global Business Travel at JTB USA, emphasizes the brand's 100-plus years of history and its vision for future business travel. The phased rollout will culminate at the Business Travel Show Europe in June 2025, reflecting a balance of technology and human service in travel management.

📍 ATPCO has partnered with 3D SeatMapVR by Renacen for an immersive aircraft shopping experience. Users can virtually tour aircraft interiors during the booking process for insights into seat features and layout. This service, part of Routehappy Visuals, is available to Routehappy airline subscribers also subscribed to Renacen. AmTrav, part of TravelPerk Group, is the first to integrate this content, showcasing Virtual Tours for Gulf Air, Iberia, and Iberia Express, with more airlines to be added. This initiative aims to boost traveller confidence and ancillary revenue opportunities.

✈ Sabre activated Air France and KLM's NDC content in its travel marketplace, offering Sabre-connected travel agencies access through various tools like Sabre Red 360 and Launchpad™. Sabre now provides more NDC content from airlines than any other global distribution system. Air France-KLM EVP Angus Clarke highlighted the benefits, including improved fares, promotions, extra options, and innovative offers such as Seat and Extra SAF Bundles. Sabre EVP Roshan Mendis emphasized the shift to a flexible distribution environment and the vision for a marketplace with personalized offers at scale.

🏨 Hotel Equities and Springboard Hospitality merged on May 1, creating a diverse hotel management company in the US, Canada, the Caribbean, and Latin America. Ben Rafter, CEO of Springboard, became CEO, and Brad Rahinsky, former CEO of Hotel Equities, now serves as chairman. Al Smith took the COO role, and Rob Robinson became president of Springboard. The merger combines strengths in branded, independent, lifestyle, and resort properties, offering a full suite of services to hotel owners. Further announcements on growth are expected.