Innovation

🛫 July 2025, STAAH introduced significant updates: ⏰ Who? STAAH | When? July 2025 | Where? Online platform | What? Channel Manager and SwiftBook updates | How? Improved room booking with a new interface, SwiftBook extras report, EU Accessibility Act compliance, package selection via dropdown, new datepicker design, price breakdown in cart, promo code entry in cart, and link policies to payment types. Enhanced integrations: Holidu, CHECK24, Qiyouji, and Riya Holidays.

📝 Danica Smith, a Hospitality Daily correspondent and founder of MorningStar GX, explores her innovative Four Ps framework for guest experience: Personal, Purposeful, Playful, and Participatory. Danica emphasizes moving personalization beyond data points and highlights the role of travel as a catalyst for personal growth. Playful and participatory experiences are crucial for guest loyalty. Hospitality leaders aiming to enhance guest experiences and boost business performance should tune into this valuable discussion.

📈 Accenture’s 2025 Consumer Pulse survey of 18,000 people across 14 countries shows that 57% participate in hotel loyalty schemes, yet 50% believe these programmes lack value. Active generative AI users among loyalty members stand at 43%, compared to 16% for non-members. Younger generations are 19% more likely to join loyalty programmes but are quick to shift if dissatisfied. Notably, 89% of loyalty members want to choose their rewards, and 92% recommend their favorite hotel brand.

🛫 Travelport expands its network by integrating four European travel tech firms—CEE Travel Systems, NPF with Abreu, TTS, and Vibe—into Travelport+. They utilize Travelport's JSON-based NDC APIs for richer airline content. This partnership, announced by Travelport's chief commercial officer Jason Toothman, enhances travel retailing with better connectivity and choice. Vibe's Danny Girling emphasized delivering scalable, modern retail experiences. These efforts advance Travelport’s mission to modernize travel retailing through efficient, dynamic solutions.

💻 Omni Hotels & Resorts migrated to Oracle's OPERA Cloud Central platform in March 2025 after a 36-month evaluation. The shift involved significant collaboration, extensive planning, and user acceptance testing. The first hotel on the new system is in Fort Lauderdale, with broader deployment planned through 2026. This transition is enhancing booking performance, accelerating feature releases, and improving workflows, setting the stage for modern guest experiences and technological agility across Omni’s 55-property portfolio.

💻 Eva, a platform by foreva.ai, enhances restaurant operations. Who? Eva. When? Currently available. Where? Restaurants. What? Eva autonomously manages complex orders, increasing food order revenue by 15-25% and reducing staff call handling by 80-95%. How? Through a multi-modal AI system requiring under 24 hours for deployment. Eva integrates voice and SMS, offering personalized promotions and real-time customer interactions. The five-person team is working on multi-channel enhancements and encourages restaurants to adopt AI for operational efficiency.

🏨 In the hospitality sector, workforce challenges are critical. Labor participation is stagnant at 62.5%-63%, hindered by factors like early retirement and childcare access. HR leaders face retention (59%), talent attraction (56%), and management (52%) issues, causing over $140,000 in annual productivity losses. Recruiting and onboarding are costly, at $18,818 annually. With turnover costing $10,431 per worker, outsourcing HR tasks is rising. By 2025, 59% plan to outsource payroll (43%) and other tasks for improved efficiency.

📱 Texas A&M Hotel & Conference Center partnered with Maestro PMS and PurpleCloud Technologies to enhance operations, focusing on housekeeping. Room inspections dropped from 30 to under 10 minutes, and payroll costs decreased by around 12% in a year. Mobile solutions replaced manual systems, boosting efficiency and guest satisfaction, reaching 96.6%. Gamification improved staff engagement. The collaboration improved internal communication, workflow efficiency, and reduced operational costs, enhancing the guest experience.

📱 eviivo, a property management system, launched a new WhatsApp and SMS integration for its AI-powered Guest Manager. Text messages boast a 98% open rate, significantly higher than emails. This feature targets regional preferences: WhatsApp in Europe and SMS in the U.S., defaulting to SMS if needed. Users report potential savings of £300 per month. Operators in the US, UK, and France appreciate the enhanced guest communication and cost savings.