Innovation

📈 On Jan 14, 2025, advancements in hotel revenue management were highlighted, revealing how AI enables hotels to adjust pricing strategies in real-time by recognizing local events like conventions or concerts. Sonesta International’s Chief Commercial Officer, Garine Ferejian-Mayo, acknowledged the untapped potential of AI. Sebastien Leitner from Cloudbeds discussed their AI-powered solution that integrates revenue management, digital marketing, and guest experience, underscoring a test-and-learn approach driven by data from social media and the travel ecosystem.

🚀 On Jan 14, 2025, the 2024 Bad Bot Report indicated a surge in malicious bot activity in the travel and airline industry, with only 51.1% of internet traffic being human. Compared to 37% last year, 66.1% of these bots are now using advanced evasion techniques. These bots cause issues like fare scraping, seat spinning, and brute-force attacks on loyalty accounts, affecting revenue, metrics, customer satisfaction, and costs.

📣 HiJiffy's Campaigns Manager is designed for hoteliers to independently create, manage, and monitor messaging campaigns. It features automated in-stay campaigns, real-time analytics, and flexible management options. The tool offers benefits for hotels, such as increasing direct bookings and staying organized, as well as saving staff time and reducing errors. Guests benefit from timely updates and better experiences. Access is plan-specific, with Premium Plan offering up to 4 campaigns per reservation by default, and Enterprise Plan having customizable limits. Overuse incurs additional charges. The Overview tab allows tracking of messages, extra costs, and campaign breakdowns, while the List of Campaigns tab facilitates campaign management. Integrations with PMS/CRM are required for recurring campaigns. Campaign setup involves selecting details, setting triggers, targeting guests, configuring channels, and composing messages. The Campaigns Manager also helps send messages at key times during guest journeys, from pre-arrival to departure. For further support, users can access HiJiffy's Help Center or contact Customer Success representatives.

🌍 **Jan 13, 2025**: Tripadvisor and Perplexity launch a partnership, featuring 1 billion reviews, AI summaries, 300,000 Viator experiences, and a chatbot-style search engine covering 43 markets in 22 languages, aiming to simplify travel planning. Initial features now live on Perplexity.com and coming soon to mobile apps.

🌍 On January 13, 2025, TikTok unveiled its new e-commerce product for travel brands at the Skift Megatrends event in London. The product, named Travel Ads or Catalogue Ads for Travel, targets TikTok users with travel booking intentions. Initially in a testing phase with select brands, TikTok's Head of Travel, Hannah Bennett, announced plans for future wider availability, aiming to bridge brands with potential travelers on the platform.