Innovation

🏨 Dorint, a top hotel company in the DACH region, partners with IDeaS to enhance revenue management. The German hospitality market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 7.7%. Dorint will implement IDeaS' G3 RMS with Optix across its 60+ properties in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland to drive expansion and capitalize on market growth. Manuel Schmidgen, VP at Dorint, emphasizes staying ahead in a dynamic market; Michael McCartan of IDeaS anticipates new success levels through AI and data-driven strategies.

📱 TProfile launched GenAI, a new feature for The Social Media Text Generator, enabling travel agents to convert customer quotes into social media posts instantly. The AI Social text wizard crafts posts from holiday quotations, providing professional quality and imagery for increased customer engagement on various social channels. Bhav Taylor, chief sales officer, emphasized the enhancement of TProfile's AI capabilities through this update.

🚀 myPlane, an online booking engine, launched AI-powered features to streamline commercial charter flight bookings. Designed to move airlines and B2B travel buyers from manual processes to a digital platform, the AI tool processes 200-500 daily enquiries, standardizing and responding to them efficiently. This innovation aims to enhance transparency and efficiency in the charter flight industry, as stated by co-founder Juuso Klemola.

🛫 In 2024, the travel and hospitality industry faced CX challenges including a nonstrategic AI deployment where only 13% of companies were fully prepared to use AI effectively, leading to financial losses and decreased trust. Multilingual support was lacking, with 29% of businesses losing customers and 70% of users preferring native language services. Legacy customer service systems caused inefficiency and frustration. Personalization became critical, with 71% of consumers expecting tailored interactions and 76% dissatisfied without them. Advanced analytics and conversational AI are proposed solutions to enhance CX, personalization, and revenue.

📈 On Feb 27, 2025, Booking Holdings outlined its proactive approach to AI integration, targeting enhanced travel experiences and operational efficiencies. Aiming to stay competitive, the company is developing AI capabilities internally and forming partnerships with leading AI firms. They are shifting towards a merchant platform, projected to represent 59% of gross bookings by 2024, and are capitalizing on a 19% increase in alternative accommodation bookings in Q4 2024. Booking Holdings plans a strategic transformation expected to yield $400 million to $450 million in savings annually, which will be partially reinvested into AI and fintech. CEOs Glenn Fogel and CFO Ewout Steenbergen are driving the company's focus on both profitability and sustainable growth.

💾 eviivo, a booking and property management platform, and Breezeway, an operations and guest experience platform, have integrated to enhance property operations and guest experiences. The partnership aims to automate workflows, improve efficiency, and elevate service quality. Property managers can save over 40 hours monthly and cut operational costs by up to 30%. Jake Ryan, owner of Book Hocking with over 150 cabins, praises the integration for its time-saving aspects and efficiency in scaling operations. Gwenael Merlin of eviivo and Peter Andruszkiewicz of Breezeway highlight the strategic growth and improved guest experiences resulting from this collaboration.

🏨 Modern self-service kiosks at hotels streamline check-in/out, reduce wait times, and enhance guest satisfaction, while embedded payment solutions offer faster, secure transactions. Mobile devices increase staff-guest interaction, and AI chatbots provide 24/7 support. Translation technology improves communication with international guests. Online reputation tools, dynamic pricing, event management software, and CRM solutions optimize operations for reservations, marketing, and revenue teams. Housekeeping benefits from real-time PMS integration, digital communication, mobile task management, and automated scheduling for operational efficiency. F&B teams utilize integrated POS, inventory management, digital ordering, and better tipping systems to improve service and revenue. Digital training, well-being programs, and security training help hiring and HR teams to improve staff retention and ensure data protection. Technology empowers hotel staff to work smarter and enhance the guest experience.

📈 Lighthouse, based in Denver, Colorado, has unveiled its Integration API, part of the Lighthouse Developer Solutions suite. This framework enables technology providers to construct certified integrations and create new revenue streams. The CEO of Lighthouse, Sean Fitzpatrick, highlighted that partners can integrate within weeks instead of months while benefiting from revenue-sharing opportunities. The API offers various integration options including Business Intelligence, Benchmark Insight, Pricing Manager, and Channel Manager, with one-way or two-way data synchronization.

🛫 Hospitality industry call centers face increased call volume during peak travel seasons. AI-powered tools and real-time automation aim to optimize workflows and support agents, preventing burnout and attrition. Real-time sentiment analysis technology allows agents to adjust to customer emotions on the spot. A survey showed 82% of senior executives see scaling AI as a top priority, with data integration as the main challenge for AI readiness. AI-powered virtual assistants can enhance agents' performance by providing instant access to information and reducing the time spent on after-call work. Technology in contact centers should empower employees, maintain human connection, and improve customer service.