Innovation

🗺 Nov 21, 2025: Booking.com launches its largest-ever Black Friday promotion, offering discounts across six categories: accommodations, flights, car rentals, attractions, airport transfers, and cruises. With travel costs expected to rise in 2026, the campaign provides flexible options like free cancellation and book now, pay later. Emphasizing restorative travel, especially among Gen Z, and leveraging AI tools, the deals encourage early planning for trips through December 2026.

📰 November 20, 2025, Barcelona, Spain - Palacio Arriluce Hotel in Getxo near Bilbao adopts Shiji’s Daylight PMS for improved operations and guest experiences. Part of The Leading Hotels of the World, this luxury hotel embraces a cloud-based system to boost efficiency. Shiji, with over 5,000 employees and services to 91,000 hotels, delivers innovative hospitality technology globally. Palacio Arriluce, a historical palace since 1912, combines timeless elegance with cutting-edge solutions.

🚀 Google introduced Agentic AI for travel, offering a seamless booking experience while sparking discussions about AI's impact on OTAs and marketing. The September 2025 update by Seer Interactive revealed that Google's AI Overviews can cause CTRs to drop over 60%, although being cited inside boosts clicks significantly. Hotel lobbies are evolving into retail spaces, and a major Cloudflare outage exposed internet centralization issues. Meanwhile, Mandarin Oriental emphasizes human touch over technology in luxury hospitality.

📱 Bespoke Hotels partners with Canary Technologies to enhance guest experiences across 50+ UK properties. Guests can now communicate via SMS and WhatsApp, with real-time translation in over 100 languages. Features like mobile check-in, smart checkout, and dynamic upsells aim to personalize stays. Canary's AI-powered solutions streamline check-ins and boost guest satisfaction, combining innovation with personal hospitality. The rollout covers the majority of Bespoke's portfolio, enhancing guest interaction and operational efficiency.

📱 Bespoke Hotels has chosen Canary Technologies' mobile-first Guest Management System. This decision supports Bespoke Hotels' digital transformation and operational modernization. The goal is to streamline guest interactions, enhancing guest experiences.

💻 Staff shortages in hospitality are structural, with annual turnover rates of 70-80% in the US and 52% in the UK. The causes include seasonal workforce tendencies, low wages, and burnout. AI offers solutions by handling routine tasks, improving guest interactions, streamlining check-ins, and enhancing operational forecasting. TrustYou’s AI Agents lighten administrative burdens and improve guest feedback loops, helping hotels maintain service quality amid staffing crises, ultimately supporting staff and enhancing guest experiences.

📊 In 2026, hotel groups face three critical challenges: data-driven insights, precision guest targeting, and managing acquisition costs. With over 200 departments across 20 hotels, lacking centralized Business Intelligence causes strategic paralysis and budget risks. Fine-tuning guest experiences boosts revenue and productivity, while independent hotels must cap OTA commissions and invest in brand identity. Failure to adapt may lead to reliance on Soft Brands. Embracing these mandates ensures competitive edge and independence.