Innovation

🏃 Gemini's AI capabilities power new features for 250 million places, rolling out in the U.S. on Android and iOS. Users can plan drives with route exploration including landmarks and dining options. Enhanced navigation provides lane guidance with clear lane markers. Weather disruption reporting is available for winter months. Coming soon to Search: AI-powered review summaries and detailed place queries.

🏢 PPDS, global provider of Philips Professional Displays, opened the PPDS Studio NYC Metro in Fairfield, NJ, near New York City, marking the second PPDS Master Showroom and the ninth PPDS Studio worldwide. The state-of-the-art, 2,368 ft² venue, targeting hospitality partners and hotel owners, was inaugurated on October 24. It features over 30 active screens, including a 138” Philips LED All In One, a transparent OLED, and the Philips Signage 3000 Series EcoDesign Series, which consumes up to 70% less energy. The showroom offers areas for product training and events for over 25 people, showcasing PPDS' sustainable and innovative display solutions.

🍴 Chipotle faced a social media critique over portion sizes, but after addressing concerns and retraining employees, it saw increased loyalty and sales. TikTok's influence is significant, with 53% of millennial users visiting restaurants they've seen on the platform and 78% of TikTok-marketing restaurants experiencing a positive ROI within six months. A single favorable TikTok review can dramatically boost a restaurant's business, as seen with Danny Boy's near UCLA. For success, restaurants must embrace social media culture, utilizing listening software and crafting bold, trend-driven campaigns. Chili's and Texas-based Lotus Seafood exemplify this approach, leading to viral success and notable sales growth.

🏨 Acappella Suite Hotel in Selangor, Malaysia, experienced a 125% increase in direct bookings and a 40% rise in total bookings over six months after adopting STAAH's technology. Starting in 2015, the hotel switched to STAAH due to its outdated booking engine and the surge in customer preference for direct bookings post-Covid. STAAH's SwiftBook and Get Google features improved booking ease and web visibility, resulting in significant revenue and visibility boosts for the hotel.

📊 Enterprises prefer in-house development of LLM solutions to control data and costs, with use cases in task automation, improved search, and content acceleration. However, few projects reach production due to high inference costs, talent shortages, and LLM limitations. Document processor Rossum, with $100M raised and ~$50M ARR, leverages LLMs for higher-value propositions. ABBYY reported a 60% YoY revenue growth and 100% new ARR growth in 2024. ServiceNow, post ElementAI acquisition, grew from $4B to $10B ARR and 25% YoY in 2024, launching "Now Assist" chatbot in Nov 2023. Salesforce's Einstein Copilot and Microsoft's Office 360 Copilot show mixed market feedback. H., founded by Google Research/Deepmind founders, raised a $200M round led by Accel and partners with UiPath for LLM-based RPA. Despite advancements, the Enterprise LLM space is still in an early, pilot phase. 🇫🇷 CARTE represents a novel approach to pre-training neural networks with tabular data.

📊 Hospitality-focused BI solutions, compared to generic BI tools, offer specialized functions for hoteliers like data mapping, collaboration, and reporting tailored to industry needs. Key benefits include efficient performance visualization, streamlined data collection, maximized revenue, and enhanced guest experiences. Features such as seamless PMS integration, customizable reports, multi-property reporting, cross-departmental collaboration, and extractable data facilitate decision-making and operational efficiency. Hospitality-specific BI tools help hoteliers optimize performance, improve guest satisfaction, and increase profitability.

🏕 According to a 2024 Kampgrounds of America report, RV usage in the U.S. and Canada increased by 96%, and cabin/glamping usage by 101% over the past decade. To maximize revenue and meet market demand, outdoor accommodations are adopting IDeaS' G3 RMS, a revenue management system that optimizes pricing and efficiency. G3 RMS analyzes data, updates inventory, pricing recommendations, and integrates with management tools to help properties compete in the global outdoor hospitality market. Providers can now automate pricing strategies and tailor offerings for different guest segments, enhancing both revenue and guest experience.

📅 In 2024, over 75,000 people traveled with WeRoad, marking a 60% increase from the previous year. Italy remains the main market, contributing 25% of business, with expectations of international business increasing to 35-40% in the following year. The UK market has proven to be the most competitive, with high marketing costs and a saturated market of experienced players. WeRoad focuses on community engagement through events and partnerships, like with Manchester young professionals. WeRoad.co.uk is moving its platform to WeRoad.com to unify English-speaking customer itineraries and simplify operations. The company has nearly 3,000 coordinators (a 50% growth) and emphasizes the importance of customer satisfaction. The Series B funding round closed at 18 million euros. WeRoad is developing a consumer app and expanding with new weekend itineraries, thematic trips, and a city strategy for community events.

🔔 Hotel companies review tech infrastructure annually with stakeholders like owner-operators and tech teams. TrustYou's Customer Experience Platform (CXP) integrates with existing systems, consolidates feedback, and minimizes operational disruptions. AI and ML technologies offer competitive advantages such as an 80% reduction in response efforts and significant ROI. Hotels like B&B leverage guest feedback to drive brand development and innovations. Flexibility and scalability are crucial for technology to support growth. Adaptability is key in successful technology implementation, with a focus on user feedback and a controlled rollout strategy.