Innovation

💻 Hospitality America is advancing its technology by integrating business intelligence across its hotels, with Wes Cargen as the vice president of business intelligence. The investment aims to provide real-time insights, actionable data, and enhance forecasting for agile management. Leveraging an AI-enabled Microsoft tenant, the company plans to automate processes and enhance personalization and retention strategies. Hospitality America intends to build internal dashboards and reporting tools to support decision-making, predict maintenance needs, and optimize revenue management. Cargen's background includes experience with Actabl (ProfitSword) and a 15-year history with Hospitality America. The enhanced BI capabilities are anticipated to improve asset performance and return on investment for owners and investors.

🏨 Hopper is touted as beneficial for small to mid-sized hotels aiming to boost their visibility and occupancy rates without incurring substantial marketing costs. The platform's legitimacy and utility in the hotel industry is the focal point, yet the article does not provide specific numbers or statistical data. The metadata suggests the article was updated on October 11, 2024, and it connects to the broader theme of hotel marketing strategies.

💻 In a World Travel Protection survey of 2000 business travellers from the UK, US, Canada, and Australia, 52% of UK and 60% global business travellers worry about cyber-attacks, rising to 62% among frequent UK and 70% global travellers. UK companies lag in cybersecurity, with 25% of UK travellers stating their companies take no measures, versus 10-11% in other countries. Common measures include anti-virus software (22% UK vs 27% globally) and two-factor authentication (21% UK vs 27% globally). UK firms also fall short in data backups (15% UK vs 24% globally) and biometric security (11% UK vs 17% globally). Moreover, 17% of UK companies don't provide cybersecurity training, compared to 20% globally. With 18% of UK and 24% globally allowed "work from anywhere" policies and 16% of UK travellers mixing business trips with holidays, cybersecurity risks increase.

💳 Mews, a hospitality cloud provider, released the Mews Terminal S2 ePOS system to enhance hotel operations. The Terminal S2 integrates with Mews POS and Payments for seamless transactions at various property locations. It enables secure order and payment processing from a single device, reducing service time from five minutes to one minute as experienced by the Arctic SnowHotel in Lapland, Finland. The device is portable, wireless, and features a long-life battery, with capabilities to manage busy restaurants and front desks effectively.

✈ PLAY airlines collaborates with InterLnkd to introduce an AI-powered pre-travel shopping platform for US customers, featuring brands like Bloomingdale's and CVS. This makes PLAY the first North American airline to offer such a service, integrating it into the post-booking process for incremental revenue. European customers can access products from Marks & Spencer, WHSmith, Selfridges, Harvey Nichols, and Asos. The platform is designed to provide convenience and enhance the travel experience by meeting vacation essentials needs.

💳 CellPoint Digital, a Payment Orchestration company, promotes Michael Sørensen to CTO and Steven Osei to CMO. Sørensen, with over 30 years of IT experience, aims to drive the company's technology strategy, focusing on scaling the tech team and innovation in offer ordering and APM integrations. Osei's promotion enhances the brand's leadership in Payment Orchestration across air, travel, and hospitality sectors. CEO Kristian Gjerding affirms the team's capacity to foster innovation and market growth.

🏨 Jayvee Gabon's career in hospitality began at Best Western Plus Lex Cebu, progressing from Sales & Banquet Executive to Sales Accounts Executive over nearly three years, managing events, room sales, and the travel segment. He then spent six years as a Market Manager at Trip.com, handling key Philippine destinations like Cebu and Palawan. At STAAH, he values the dynamic culture, continuous innovation, and work-life balance with the flexibility of working from home. His mantra echoes the book "Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance," emphasizing perseverance and passion for success. Outside work, Jayvee enjoys traveling, cooking, and reading, which inspire his professional life.

💰 Revenue Management Systems (RMS) have advanced from Excel spreadsheets to AI-driven models for analysis, forecasting, and decision-making. RMS like IDeaS began with machine learning and evolved into AI with their G3 model. OTA Insights uses AI to enhance distribution strategies, optimizing pricing and inventory. As the field evolves, the efficiency and speed of data processing and revenue conversion through AI are expected to increase, suggesting a future where AI integration in RMS is integral.

🏖️ Brittain Resorts & Hotels partnered with Provident Hotels & Resorts to operate eight hotels and resorts in Florida. CEO Matthew Brittain announced the expansion, aiming to enhance their presence on the East Coast and pursue aggressive growth. The properties include Ocean Pointe Suites at Key Largo, Provident Oceana Beachfront Suites, Sunset Vistas Beachfront Suites, Crystal Palms Suites in Treasure Island, Sailport Waterfront Suites in Tampa, Provident Grand Luxury Short-Term Residences, Provident Doral at the Blue in Doral, and The Mutiny Hotel in Miami.