Innovation

📅 Davy and Jill attended the Mews Unfold event in Amsterdam this week. This marked their third and fifth attendance, respectively. Duncan Wardle, Disney's former head of innovation, delivered a keynote on creativity as a habit. The event emphasized "shaping high-performance hospitality" with AI enabling staff to focus on guest interactions. Key elements included more personalization, data, and enhanced guest experiences. Interactive badges added humor, while AI discussions highlighted its role in reducing repetitive tasks for hospitality staff.

💻 The debate on hospitality technology focuses on all-in-one platforms vs. best-of-breed stacks. For experience-led hotels, coherent tech ecosystems are crucial to enhance guest experiences and maximize revenue. A BCG and NYU report states only 2.9% of full-time employees in travel and tourism possess tech skills like AI fluency, compared to 21% in tech and media. Support from tech partners is vital for effective implementation and performance improvement. Essential questions guide tech choices for revenue and service accountability.

💻 In the lodging industry, technification— the use of technology in business—has become crucial since its concept was introduced in the 1930s. It involves AI, chatbots, and robots to enhance guest experiences and boost profits. However, over-reliance on technology might lead to service commoditization, reducing differentiation to price alone. Arguments for technification highlight labor shortages and the preference of younger generations for self-service. Concerns remain about losing human connections in guest interactions.

🗺 Surveying 1,029 U.S. travelers, Cornell's study explores AI's role in travel planning across Budget, Premium, Aspirational, and Luxury segments. AI ranks fourth as a planning tool, following search engines, review sites, and hotel websites. Over 60% cite accuracy concerns as a barrier to AI adoption. Each segment uses AI uniquely: Budget for cost-comparisons, Premium for discovery, Aspirational for curation, and Luxury for factual research but prefer human advisors. Segment-specific AI tool design is essential.

🍽 2026, Saladplate, part of Informa Markets, serves as the content hub for the Hospitality, Food, and Beverage industry. It offers insights, trends, and updates through weekly news, a monthly newsletter, and a bi-monthly e-magazine. The platform connects users with over 10,000 brands and products and updates from 35+ international trade events.

💻 Ready-to-eat (RTE) vending is transforming in the Asia-Pacific region. AI-enabled models are revolutionizing the category by enhancing demand forecasting, menu planning, inventory management, and consumer interaction. This innovation allows for freshly prepared meals at purchase, moving away from traditional static menus.