Innovation

📱 Digital Asset Management (DAM) systems in hospitality enable teams across locations to access tools and resources, enhance guest loyalty with personalized experiences, and streamline sales and marketing with centralized content. Boston Harbor Hotel, with Marketing Manager Christine Whitnel and Social Media Coordinator Marc Gonzalez, improved operations with a new DAM, facilitating AI-powered search, tagging, sharing, and rights management, leading to more efficient campaigns. DAMs are integrating AI and ML to become more sophisticated, proving essential in the competitive hospitality market. PhotoShelter CEO Andrew Fingerman highlights nearly 2,000 brands using their DAM software.

📝 FAQ Insights in the Console helps optimize guest communication by showing unanswered questions, negative scores, and topics for chatbot response improvement. Dashboard section provides quick general insights. The Reports section offers detailed data and performance metrics, with access to top 25 priorities for optimizing FAQ topics. Direct access for optimization is available through the platform and a question mark icon next to chatbot responses in conversations. Weekly email reports and Console notifications alert users to unanswered FAQs.

🏨 Ernest Lee, Chief Commercial Officer at citizenM, discusses the "mycitizenM+" paid loyalty program, akin to Amazon Prime, on Aug. 22, 2024, highlighting benefits for customers and the company. The program offers travel, social, and professional perks, reflecting post-pandemic workforce changes with increased flexibility. It impacts key metrics like average order value, customer lifetime value, repeat frequency, app usage, and Net Promoter Score (NPS).

🌍 Wholesalers in the travel industry, like Tourico Holidays, purchase in bulk to resell to businesses. Bedbanks, such as BedbankGlobal, store and distribute accommodation inventories. DMCs/Receptives, including Abercrombie & Kent, offer local, customized travel services. Web platforms like Booking.com and Expedia provide real-time access to travel products, while metasearchers like Kayak and Skyscanner compare prices. TUI and Thomas Cook create packaged travel deals, airlines like Emirates offer complete packages and manage loyalty programs. Corporate programs, exemplified by American Express Global Business Travel, offer tailored services with benefits. Retail Travel Agencies (e.g., Flight Centre) and B2B Distribution Groups (e.g., Virtuoso) enhance product distribution and customer reach. Technological companies such as Roibos support the distribution strategy with advanced tools.

📦 Grubhub expands its Campus Dining service to over 60 schools, reaching over 4.5 million students. University of Alabama at Birmingham, University of Tampa, University of Missouri, Howard University, and Tulane University among new partners. Grubhub's university partnerships grew by 21%. Robot delivery is available on over 20 campuses, with University of Mississippi, Prairie View A&M University, University of New Mexico, and University of Houston joining this semester. Amazon's Just Walk Out technology is implemented at Ursinus College, University of Virginia, and Lindenwood University, with schools like Stevens Institute of Technology and Loyola University Maryland already using it. Sustainable solution by Topanga.io's ReusePass program is deployed at Virginia Tech and SUNY New Paltz, with several other universities already on board. Grubhub+ Student provides $0 delivery and additional benefits for partnered school students.

🎶 Restaurants must ensure their music streaming service and sound system are compatible and reliable, without connectivity issues or playback errors. Public performance licenses are essential when playing music publicly, as copyright infringement fines can vary from hundreds to tens of thousands of dollars per violation. The licenses, typically issued by PROs like ASCAP, BMI, SESAC, and GMR in the US, protect artists and avoid legal action against the business. Multiple licenses may be needed for different songwriters or additional uses like music videos.

📍 Grubhub expands its Campus Dining to over 60 schools, now reaching 500,000 new students, for a total of over 4.5 million. New university partners include Alabama at Birmingham, Tampa, Missouri, Howard, and Tulane, increasing Grubhub's university partnerships by 21% to over 360. Automated robot delivery by Cartken, Kiwibot, and Starship is expanded to nearly a dozen new schools, already serving 20 campuses and delivering hundreds of thousands of orders. Amazon's Just Walk Out technology is being deployed at Ursinus College, University of Virginia, and Lindenwood University, with previous implementations at Stevens Institute of Technology, Montclair State University, and Loyola University Maryland. Grubhub partners with Topanga.io for reusable packaging, with Virginia Tech and SUNY New Paltz joining this semester, adding to schools like Ohio State University and Boston University. Grubhub Campus Dining offers on- and off-campus ordering, and students at partnered schools get free Grubhub+ Student, offering $0 delivery fees, lower service fees, and other benefits.

📢 Penta Hotels, with locations in Europe and Asia, intensifies focus on guest experience by using THN's Form Builder to gather guest preferences on their website. They offered a €5 discount for survey participants, resulting in 608 submissions in two weeks, tripling the response rate of their email campaigns. This direct engagement strategy provided insights and optimized booking incentives, demonstrating the tool's effectiveness in increasing online visitor engagement.

🎁 On August 24, Cheba Hut offers free Kool-Aid to its dine-in and carryout guests. The first 200 visitors receive a "Cottonmouth Cures" cup for free Kool-Aid for a year. Embracing kitchen display systems (KDS) and just-in-time service, Cheba Hut prioritizes fresh food and customer respect. Their loyalty app, featuring games like "Flippy Bird," caters to evolving customer preferences alongside a flexible approach to third-party delivery services.