Innovation

📊 TrustYou, the leading hospitality AI platform, expands its strategic partnership with HSMAI Asia Pacific for 2026, focusing on AI-driven guest insights. The collaboration covers educational platforms, networking events, and the Commercial Strategy Conference in Singapore on May 14-15, 2026. TrustYou aims to enhance decision-making and revenue growth for hotel leaders. Will Howes highlights the importance of data and AI insights, while Jackie Douglas emphasizes understanding guest sentiment for better commercial decisions.

💻 London, 23 March 2026: Independent Accommodation Day (24 March) highlights the adoption of AI by independent accommodation providers to enhance efficiency. PwC forecasts 1.5% RevPAR growth and 1.2% occupancy growth in the UK hotel sector for 2026. A survey of 1,485 European hotels reveals 41% of independents use AI, with 16% planning adoption. Meanwhile, 78% of hotel chains use AI, yet only 7% have a company-wide strategy. AI helps independents maintain personalized guest experiences.

📄 March 23, 2026, New York, NY: Lake.com introduces "Premium" and "Portfolio" tiers for vacation rental hosts to enhance control over distribution and revenue. Premium offers 0% commissions, direct bookings, and a verified profile for $499/year. Portfolio targets larger operators with 10+ properties, providing enhanced visibility and marketing for $3,999/year. This shift empowers hosts with flexible options beyond the traditional per-transaction model, fostering direct guest relationships and revenue retention.

💻 Cybersecurity is now a team sport, vital as threats grow complex. The hospitality industry, managing sensitive data, faces relentless cyber-attacks exploiting interconnected systems. Key strategies include sharing threat intelligence for early threat visibility, pooling diverse expertise, and coordinated responses using shared Indicators of Compromise (IoCs). Collaboration strengthens supply chains and enhances cost-effective security measures. This unified approach is crucial to safeguard against adversaries who freely share resources and intelligence across networks.

💻 Operto launched the GEO Consultant, an AI tool for hotels in Vancouver, Canada. The tool evaluates hotel visibility on AI platforms, providing insights within minutes. Users can enter their website and preferred prompts to receive a visibility indicator, GEO score, and improvement suggestions. Part of Operto ONE’s Distribution AI team, it aims to enhance online presence and direct bookings. CEO Tim Major emphasizes its role in understanding AI-driven visibility.

New tool gives hotels direct visibility into how they appear across generative AI platforms such as ChatGPT and Gemini, with recommendations to improve discoverability Vancouver, Canada, 23 March 2026 – Operto today…