Innovation

📓 02:16 - Mews offers Property Management Systems (PMS) for hotels. 05:42 - A hotel business's three key assets are rooms, staff, and guests. 08:01 - Discussed monetization opportunities. 15:44 - AI used to build customer archetypes. 27:13 - Large Language Models (LLMs) as middleware. 33:30 - AI relies on truth. 35:38 - AI speeds up training content creation. 41:36 - Advice available for finding tech partners. 42:26 - Richard's pride in Mews' current achievements.

💬 Who? Conversational Engineers. When? Emerging trend. Where? Hospitality industry. What? Shift from traditional loyalty programs to conversational engagement. How? By mapping conversation touchpoints and designing systems for personalized guest experiences. Why? To build genuine relationships and enriched guest profiles using agentic AI. Traditional loyalty programs rely on hope, while conversational approaches foster organic loyalty through meaningful, scalable dialogue. Small boutique hotels exemplify this approach, recognizing regulars through countless conversations, a strategy now scalable with AI.

📈 Revenue managers spend 50% of their week on manual data entry, leading to late office hours. "Manual Reality" impacts work-life balance and efficiency. Automating with Demand Calendar saves 60 hours monthly, integrating PMS, POS, and Spa systems into one dashboard. Benefits include live rolling forecasts and reduced ad-hoc reports. The result? A 5x ROI on labor costs and better work-life balance. Demand Calendar transforms manual tasks into strategy-focused work.

📈 SAN FRANCISCO, 6 January 2026 – New research by Hospitable highlights challenges in the 2025 short-term rental market. 47.1% of hosts faced increased competition, while 45.1% reported rising costs. Despite pressures, nearly 60% plan to expand in 2026, with 97.7% valuing technology. AI is crucial, saving hosts two to six hours weekly. Hospitable, launched in 2016, has automated over 108 million messages, processing $5.2 billion in reservations in 2025.

🖥 Amazon and Expedia team up to transform Alexa+ into a travel booking assistant. Starting in 2026, users can book global accommodations using voice commands. This partnership allows Alexa to tap into Expedia's vast inventory and manage reservations. Complementary collaborations include Yelp and Angi for home services, and Square for wellness bookings. Amazon aims to make Alexa+ a comprehensive service hub. Expedia, expanding its AI focus, recently appointed Xavier Amatriain as AI director.