Innovation

💻 Fast-growing Keke’s Breakfast Cafe partners with PAR Technology Corp. to enhance its service with PAR POS, PAR Pay, and new hardware. Acquired by Denny’s in 2022, Keke’s now operates 73 locations, with over 140 units underway. The tech upgrade aligns with a brand transformation to improve operational efficiency. PAR’s cloud-based platform ensures seamless integration, empowering staff to deliver faster, personalized service. This modernization sets new standards in the breakfast space for Keke's.

📑 NYU SPS Jonathan M. Tisch Center of Hospitality, RateGain Travel Technologies, and HEDNA released the second edition of "The State of Distribution 2025". The report analyzes insights from over 700 hotel brands and 21,000+ properties across 310 cities worldwide. Key findings reveal early-stage AI adoption, varying commercial strategies by hotel size, leaner distribution functions, and the need for improved system integration—with 80% of hotels spending up to two days per week on manual reporting.

💻 Episode 31 of Matt Talks explores 10 Mews features reshaping hotel operations. Apple Wallet room keys simplify access; Match and Merge cleans guest profiles; AI insights generate 1.6 million summaries weekly; automated payments and Passkey login enhance security. Dynamic early check-in and pricing boost revenue. Virtual credit card automation and Activity Reports streamline operations. Upcoming features include Guest Selfie for recognition and revamped accounting. Mews' innovations aim to personalize and optimize hotel experiences.

🧀 Appetronix launched a fully-autonomous kitchen for Donatos Pizza in Columbus, Ohio, last week and is developing new robotic verticals for Asian and Mexican cuisines. Their system integrates AI and robotics to improve QSR operations in airports, hospitals, and more. Key partners include Viam, providing AI for quality assurance, and investors N49P and AlleyCorp. Appetronix aims to solve labor crises and achieve scalability, with plans for a nationwide rollout and further investment.

💻 2023's Rackspace report reveals 75% of travel/hospitality firms view AI as key, but 56% cite accuracy issues. Only 28% are “AI leaders,” while 250% AI spending growth is expected from 2024 ($2.5M) to 2025 ($8.7M). Top AI uses: customer service (51%), productivity (44%). Key barriers: resistance (54%), talent gaps (52%). 42% of companies plan $1M–$5M AI investments in 2023, with 78% planning more by 2030. Compliance challenges grow with evolving data laws.

💻 Peakwork and Cyberlogic, key players in travel tech, announce a partnership in June 2025. They integrate Cyberlogic's xCoRe into Peakwork’s nexTOs platform, enhancing real-time travel product management globally. This collaboration, lauded by Manuel Saballus (CEO, Peakwork) and Stergios Panagiotakis (CEO, Cyberlogic), aims to streamline inventory updates, reduce time-to-market, and offer unified product management, leveraging Peakwork's Player Hub Technology for scalable global distribution.

💳 Pax2Pay and Visa launch the Visa Commercial Choice Travel Program to modernize payments in the travel sector. This virtual card solution, backed by Visa’s secure infrastructure, enables seamless, efficient supplier payments for online travel agents. The collaboration underscores a shared commitment to innovation in travel payments, leveraging fintech for enhanced security and user experience. This strategic partnership highlights the ambition to empower travel businesses with reliable, scalable payment solutions.

🚀 In 2025, Emirates Group hosted ForsaTEK in Dubai, highlighting AI, robotics, and IoT in aviation. The forum featured 40+ showcases, including autonomous drones and AI-enabled systems. ForsaTEK was opened by Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum. Notable innovations included Transguard's autonomous robotics and dnata Cargo's drone systems. The event also launched the Afkar app and showcased the automation of visa validation. A pitch zone featured 13 startups, enhancing engagement and innovation within the group.

💻 Focus Travel Partnership, the top UK consortium for SME TMCs, partners with Front, an advanced customer service platform. Starting Q3 2025, this collaboration introduces an AI-driven, omnichannel communication platform to enhance customer service for Focus TMC Partners. Endorsed by the Focus Innovation Group, this move is praised by Craig Klemp, VP at Front, and Tony Edge, Business Solutions Manager at Focus, for its potential to drive workflow efficiencies and elevate customer experience.

🚀 Cryptorefills, a platform for spending cryptocurrency, has launched Coinbase Pay for booking flights and hotels globally, offering faster and gas-free checkouts. Now live, the service connects to over 300 airlines and a million hotels, facilitated by Triple-A. It supports over a dozen cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin and Ethereum. With options like Binance Pay and KuCoin Pay, it aims to enhance borderless, bankless travel payments, providing seamless transactions for crypto users worldwide.