Innovation

🔐 70% of consumers prefer digital keys over traditional key cards for safety. Digital keys leverage encrypted communication, biometric authentication, and enhance guest experiences by allowing seamless access via mobile apps. Traditional key cards, being easily lost or cloned, pose security risks and operational inefficiencies. Digital keys offer benefits such as enhanced security, seamless guest experiences, privacy, operational efficiency, and eco-friendliness. Future developments include integration with mobile wallets and advancements in Bluetooth, IoT, and AI. FLEXIPASS Digital Keys, a global technology company with over 30 years of experience, specializes in keyless door opening solutions for the hospitality industry.

🏨 Channel managers like STAAH optimize hotel operations by integrating with Property Management Systems (PMS), Revenue Management Systems (RMS), booking engines, payment gateways, Google Hotel Ads, reputation and CRM systems, and upsell tools. These integrations provide real-time updates, prevent overbooking, enable smarter pricing, improve booking experiences, and increase revenue through direct and upsell opportunities, all while enhancing guest relationships and feedback management. Integrations help hoteliers react quickly to market shifts, reduce manual work, minimize errors, and make more informed decisions. STAAH is recognized for its advanced channel manager capabilities and broad integration with various hotel tech providers.

🍴 2025, Loescher sees AI-driven inventory management optimizing restaurant operations through automation and personalization. She won the 2025 Top Women in Restaurant Technology Innovator Award, highlighting her role in tech-driven restaurant transformation. Mentored by industry leaders like Cary Broussard and her Six Sigma Black Belt mother, Loescher emphasizes women's empowerment. Awards presented at MURTEC on March 11, sponsored by Milagro. Nominations for the 2026 awards open December 1.

🏨 Mews launched the Hospitality Industry Advisory Board in 2025 to enhance the hospitality sector with technology. Members include industry leaders like Charlie MacGregor and Bashar Wali, reflecting decades of experience. The board's mission is to address key challenges and innovate hospitality experiences for staff and guests. CEO Matt Welle emphasizes the board's role in driving meaningful change. Members include 14 notable figures from various hospitality and technology sectors, aiming to redefine the hospitality landscape.

💻 Hoteliers in 2025 must adapt to an AI-driven future by engaging with vendors to ensure AI implementation in technologies like PMS, RMS, CRM, and CMS. AI-powered tools such as chatbots (e.g., Asksuite and Quicktext) and CRM systems (e.g., Cendyn CRM, Amadeus GMS) are recommended to enhance customer service and data management. AI can address labor shortages and personalize guest experiences, emphasizing the necessity for hotels to embrace advanced tech solutions for efficiency and growth.

🏨 Hotel managers, are your skilled staff stuck in manual low-value tasks? Outdated SOPs and repetitive data entry sap productivity and morale, costing you potential revenue. Automating tasks like data aggregation and reporting with tools like Demand Calendar can free teams for high-impact work. This shift enhances guest experiences, boosts employee engagement, and improves profit margins. Stop the drain of manual inefficiency, and let your hotel reach its full potential now.

💸 Tariffs are impacting the cost of plastic lids, foil wrap, stainless steel equipment, kitchen parts, and containers, with food prices also climbing due to unstable global supply chains and rising costs of imported ingredients, packaging, and transportation. Independents are facing a new wave of margin pressure, with experts cautioning against simply raising prices, cutting portions, or reducing headcount. AI is suggested as a tactical advantage to control operations amidst these financial challenges.

💾 Dave’s Hot Chicken, over the past 18 months, tested two robotic arms and piloted kiosks, digital menu boards, and other technologies. Robotic arms improved fry consistency and portioning but didn't reduce labor. Kiosks, now processing 25% of orders, increased average checks by 4-6%. Technology investments aim to enhance guest experience and streamline operations, such as integrating robotic fryers with POS systems and predicting wait times for more accurate delivery scheduling.

🍻 On Jun 12, 2025, Hospitality Technology will feature Coca-Cola, which has spent 139 years in the industry, discussing its role in shaping the future of digital beverage offerings. Coca-Cola's research indicates digital ordering may comprise 35%-50% of restaurant revenue in the next decade. The company's partnerships with DoorDash and UberEats account for approximately 90% of third-party platform orders, which exceed 10 million daily orders in the U.S. Coca-Cola helps restaurants increase profitability through optimized digital menus and effective customer engagement. A case study highlighted significant revenue growth from menu adjustments. The webinar features Josh Gurley, Coca-Cola's VP of Digital Partnerships & Capabilities, and is sponsored by Coca-Cola.

🦋 The FDA approved three natural food colorants, phasing out petroleum-based dyes between 2026-2028. The approved colorants are Galdieria blue, butterfly pea extract, and calcium phosphate. This follows the ban of nine artificial food dyes linked to health risks by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The FDA plans to authorize four more natural additives soon, as stated by FDA commissioner Dr. Martin A. Makary. Galdieria extract blue is now approved for a wide range of foods and beverages, butterfly pea flower extract can be used in additional snack items, and calcium phosphate is approved for certain confections and ready-to-eat chicken.