Innovation

🏨 Global Asset Solutions expanded globally in 2025, appointing key leaders like David Ordoñez and Leanne Reddie. Assets managed rose 35% to USD 6.6 billion in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia Pacific. The firm advised on over USD 27 billion since 2007, reopening its Singapore office and merging with Perception Hospitality. New services include M&A advisory and strategic consulting. The firm advanced projects in Paris, Venice, and Australia's Gold Coast, launching over 60 leadership pieces and a redesigned website.

📱 Barceló Hotel Group, H10 Hotels, Palladium Hotel Group, and Vincci Hoteles are early adopters of STAY's Corporate App. This app, launched by STAY, enables hotel groups to manage and personalize the guest experience directly through a branded mobile channel, enhancing direct bookings and loyalty. With integration to existing systems, hotel groups retain control over content and configuration. STAY is utilized by more than 1,300 properties worldwide to streamline operations and boost revenue.

📈 Hotel owners face challenges due to "Strategic Blindness" caused by misaligned incentives and information asymmetry. Operators focus on gross revenue, often overlooking net profit. Legacy contracts limit owner intervention, delaying vital data. Demand Calendar offers real-time data, enabling instant visibility, strategic execution, and integration beyond spreadsheets. This solution aligns operators and owners, fostering transparency and efficiency. Transition to this model for proactive, data-driven decision-making in hospitality.

🛫 Passengers at Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) can now complete immigration in under 20 seconds with new biometric terminals. The airport, handling over 50 million passengers annually, installed 24 eGates last month. The $3B modernization project, led by New NAIA Infrastructure Corporation (NNIC), aims to enhance efficiency and security. Amadeus technology plays a key role, with an additional 54 eGates expected early this year. The initiative involves collaboration between airport operators, border authorities, and tech partners.

📈 Jan 15, 2026 - Business leaders face a shift from a unipolar to a multipolar world. Key shifts include technological evolution from digitization to automation and demographic changes demanding productivity boosts through automation and redesign. Energy transitions towards electrification are critical to strategy. Industries are increasingly high-value, requiring focused competition. Capital discipline is essential amid slower growth. McKinsey emphasizes identifying strategic signals to navigate these changes effectively. For more insights, visit McKinsey & Co.

🤖 RevOps in the Agentic AI era transforms revenue decisions by focusing on signal quality over data hygiene. It shifts from funnel stages to continuous revenue loops, emphasizing decision accuracy and agent-human handoff efficiency. Legacy metrics like MQLs are outdated. RevOps now uses a four-layer strategy: human-led strategy, a human-AI control plane, combined execution, and autonomous systems. This requires rethinking traditional CRM-based structures for a more AI-integrated approach.

🛌 Pacifica Hotels, January 2026, California—collaborates with Heat Healer to offer in-room wellness at Hotel Emblem San Francisco, Marina del Rey Hotel, and The Wayfarer San Diego. Guests gain access to Energy Mat and Body Belt using infrared heat, red LED light, and PEMF. Sessions of 20-40 minutes aid relaxation, recovery, and circulation. Products are bookable via the front desk and delivered for private sessions. This partnership brings spa-quality wellness directly to guest rooms.

💰 In 2017, only about 30% of hotel guests left a gratuity for housekeeping staff. Challenges in administering gratuity policies include sharing tips among staff and potential conflicts with hotel fees. With more guests using digital payments, QR codes in rooms could enable cashless tipping linked to room numbers and stay dates. This tech solution may increase gratuity levels, with payments reported through employee paychecks.