Innovation

🟡 Paint brand Dulux announces "True Joy" as the Colour of the Year for 2025, a bright yellow hue selected to inspire optimism and creativity. True Joy was chosen for its bold, sunny disposition that adds cheerfulness to interiors, with three key trends influencing the selection: joyfulness, craftsmanship, and heritage. Complementary colour palettes were revealed, including Bold Colour Story for education and office spaces, Human Colour Story with neutral shades for warmth, and Proud Colour Story with deep tones for hospitality and residential areas. Previous Colours of the Year include Wild Wonder for 2023 and Sweet Embrace for 2024.

🍳 Saladplate, part of Informa Markets, serves as the official content and engagement hub for the Hospitality, Food, and Beverage sector. It offers insights, weekly news updates, a monthly newsletter, and a bi-monthly e-magazine. The platform boasts access to over 10,000 brands, companies, and products, as well as registration and updates for more than 35 international trade events.

🏡 Noida, 10th September 2024: Bhanu Chopra, Founder and Managing Director of RateGain Travel Technologies Limited, an AI-powered SaaS solutions provider for hospitality and travel, has been elected as Co-Chair of ASSOCHAM’s National Council on Travel & Tourism. The travel and tourism industry, contributing 7.7% to India's GDP in 2023, anticipates becoming a $3 trillion economy by 2047, creating 200 million jobs. RateGain operates in 100+ countries with 3,200+ customers and 700+ partners, serving major hotel chains, airlines, and car rentals.

💻 AI systems in Quick Service Restaurants (QSRs) minimize human error, accelerating order processing, hence enhancing customer experience. AI assists in trend analysis, identifying peak times, popular items, and guiding inventory management, also aiding in staff scheduling. U.S. restaurants annually waste 22-33 billion tons of food, but AI can mitigate this by updating inventories, making sustainable recommendations, and promoting underperforming menu items. AI adoption is increasing among QSRs, promising improved experiences for customers and staff while boosting cost efficiency.

🏨 According to a Deloitte survey, 45% of hoteliers report fragmented technology in their tech stack hinders delivering exceptional guest experiences. Hotels must shift to an interconnected ecosystem, with a modern Property Management System (PMS) at the core, to enhance the guest journey. This approach allows for integrated booking, shifts focus to guest-centric metrics like Revenue Per Available Guest (RevPAG), and supports dynamic packaging, leading to increased satisfaction and revenue. Transitioning from manual to automated systems, overcoming the challenge of replacing established processes, and adopting a transformational mindset are essential for hotels to capitalize on technology, encouraging additional guest spending and loyalty.

🛌 Aimbridge Hospitality partners with UKG to offer AI-powered flexible scheduling to its 45,000 hourly U.S. employees, improving work-life balance and earning the 2023 UKG Innovation Award. Using the UKG Pro mobile app, 30% of Aimbridge's workforce can trade shifts across 1,100 U.S. properties. Nearly half (47%) of global employees find flexible/self-scheduling highly desirable in 2024. Aimbridge also leverages UKG Talk for streamlined communications and plans to utilize AI-assistant UKG Bryte™ for guiding employees on PTO policies.

🏦 Simon Champion to step down as CEO of Boxpark after a 7-year tenure, having been part of the team since before April 2022. Boxpark, known for using shipping containers for pop-up street food, has locations in London and Liverpool. COO Ben Mclaughlin to take over interim operations. Boxpark Camden to open in late September with 60 traders, two bars, and a rooftop terrace, subject to planning permission. Shoreditch outpost to close due to lease expiration, despite a campaign to save it.

🏨 Aimbridge Hospitality implements AI-powered UKG Pro suite for its 45,000 hourly U.S. employees to offer flexible, gig-like shift picking. Aimbridge, managing brands like Hilton and Marriott, competes for talent by gigifying its workforce, improving employee flexibility and satisfaction. The company received the 2023 UKG Innovation Award for its scheduling approach. 12,000 employees, or 30% of the hourly workforce, have traded shifts across 1,100 U.S. properties. The UKG suite also includes UKG Talk, a communications platform, and UKG Bryte™, an AI assistant.

🏕 Resort revenue management is complex due to diverse offerings and variable demand. G3 RMS assists in optimizing revenue by providing advanced demand forecasting, dynamic pricing strategies, and evaluating group business opportunities. For example, it can suggest optimized controls and automate pricing adjustments after cancellations. The technology also aids in guest data analysis for personalized pricing and experience strategies. Felix Llibre, Director of Sales at Loews Coral Gables, endorses the tool for early buy-in and alignment between departments.

🏨 Hoteliers often can't perceive their hotel from a guest's viewpoint, making it hard to meet guests' expectations. This disconnect is analyzed through the "gap model" and can occur due to misunderstandings about expectations, inability to provide desired service, human error, or misleading marketing. GuestRevu's guest feedback surveys and online reputation management tools help bridge these gaps. Feedback helps hoteliers understand guest expectations, identify service shortcomings, and refine marketing messages to ensure guest experiences align with what is advertised.