Innovation

💻 Marriott announced the beta launch of Ask Bonvoy, a conversational AI tool for 283 million members, with a full rollout planned later in 2026. At HITEC 2026, held in San Antonio, the industry debated AI’s impact on costs, brand survival, and human roles, feeling both excited and unsettled. Zenzap CEO Guy Weiss highlighted risks of using WhatsApp for hotel ops, suggesting specific communication tools to reduce staff turnover by up to 50%. Revinate launched Ivy, enhancing guest communication efficiency.

💬 Guy Weiss, CEO of Zenzap, addresses hospitality's communication challenges, highlighting issues with using personal messaging apps like WhatsApp for business operations. These pose risks, such as data loss when employees leave and privacy breaches through uncontrolled access to personal numbers. Zenzap offers a new communication platform tailored for high-turnover industries to mitigate these risks, emphasizing the need for a secure infrastructure instead of adding more tools. This change aims to improve security, privacy, and operational efficiency.

💻 HITEC 2026, San Antonio: Revinate unveils Ivy, an AI platform trained on 17 years of hospitality data and 1.1 billion guest profiles. It automates tasks, resolving 80% of routine guest inquiries and saving 30 hours monthly in call scoring. CEO Bryson Koehler emphasizes Ivy's ability to enhance decision-making and streamline operations. By evolving Ivy, Revinate aims to shift focus from software management to strategic guest engagement, leveraging data for personalized communication and revenue growth. Booth 3418 showcases Ivy from June 16–18.

🤖 2026, HITEC conference highlighted AI’s role in hospitality. Ajay Aluri and Scot Campbell discussed Nylo, a socially intelligent robot, aiding in guest interactions and repetitive tasks. Examples include Oto at Otonomus Hotel, Tulse at Marriott Tulsa, and José at San José Airport. Collectively, they completed 371,135 guest interactions and 22,657 conversations, supporting 70+ languages. Emphasis is on experience amplification, not job replacement, balancing ROI and ROE.

📧 AI is transforming email marketing. Gmail's Gemini and Apple Mail's AI summaries now dictate email visibility and guest interaction. Inbox providers act as recommendation engines, prioritizing relevant, trusted content. Hotel marketers face competition from airlines, OTAs, and retailers for inbox space. Success hinges on relevance, trust, segmentation, and guest engagement. To thrive, focus on improving engagement signals, optimizing content for AI, and managing sender reputation. Adapt strategies for AI-driven inboxes to maintain visibility and maximize campaign performance.

📈 Classic Norway's 22 of 23 facilities utilize an automated forecasting function nightly. Since 2024, it has improved forecast accuracy across nearly all properties. The platform, implemented in under 60 days, slashed Excel usage by about 95%. It integrates forecasts for all departments, cutting forecast errors by half. Anders Johansson and Alexander Killi highlight the shift from reactive to proactive management, unifying team efforts with consistent data access.

💻 In two years, ChatGPT reached approximately 400 million weekly users. Three out of four smartphone owners now routinely use voice assistants. This reveals a rapid shift in how people obtain information, emphasizing plain-language answers over traditional methods. Businesses, still reliant on outdated systems, face a growing disconnect as employees experience seamless AI responses at home. Access to dashboards and reports fails to meet expectations for quick answers, highlighting a behavioral shift in information retrieval.

📈 June 16, 2026, Steinhausen, Switzerland — RoomPriceGenie, used by over 4,000 hotels globally, unveiled an enhancement to their revenue management system. The new feature, price explanations, offers hoteliers transparency in rate recommendations by detailing market conditions, demand signals, and property settings. This helps identify pricing constraints, enhancing revenue opportunities. CEO Chas Scarantino emphasizes that understanding recommendation logic empowers hoteliers to maximize RMS benefits. Meet RoomPriceGenie at Booth 951 at HITEC San Antonio for more.

🏨 In a conversation on Hotel Moment, Wilhelm Luxem, with a 50-year career in luxury hospitality, emphasizes technology's role in enhancing service. His approach includes a two-week training rule and addressing the demand for personalized experiences, aiming to maintain authentic human connections. Karen Stephens, Revinate's Chief Marketing Officer with over 25 years in hospitality tech, hosts the podcast. In her current role, she led Revinate to its highest booking quarter in Q4 2023.