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Vendor conversations about AI in hospitality often centre around prediction: systems that anticipate client needs and land on decisions before intent is even expressed. It makes for a compelling pitch. It also leads leaders towards the wrong questions. The returns hotel sales teams are seeing from AI come from somewhere more immediate: the operational layer where enquiries are handled and proposals move through the pipeline. That's where the revenue conversation belongs. Current systems are costing venues money in response speed and in repeat business that decreases because the experience of working with your team felt inconsistent under pressure. Closing that gap with AI is a valuable opportunity. The revenue opportunity in AI is operational. Teams that move on that basis will outperform those still waiting for tech to become something ‘more’. Where the pressure lives Hotel venue sales run on expertise that digital systems struggle to capture. A sales manager's read of a hesitant planner. A team's shared memory of who moves quickly and who needs reassurance before committing. Emotional knowledge is a competitive asset, hard-won and powerfully differentiating. Under sustained pressure, expertise gets stretched. Enquiry volumes grow and team members are working at capacity. Knowledge that separates your venue from a competitor starts producing inconsistent results, and that's what prospects notice. Revenue lost this way accumulates across small moments rather than obvious failures. What the gap looks like in practice Most hotel sales leaders will recognise these scenarios immediately: An enquiry arrives during a site visit. The window for a fast, considered response closes before anyone picks it up. The planner, who had options, decides based on who came back first. Confirming availability across multiple spaces requires manual checking. The delay runs to hours. The planner interprets it as a sign of how working with your venue will feel throughout the event process. A proposal stalls because required event details are incomplete and ownership of the next step is unclear. What should take a day takes a week. A follow-up gets pushed down the list while more urgent things take over. When it eventually happens, the relationship has already cooled. Each moment feels manageable on its own. Collectively, they measure the distance between what your venue sales operation is capable of and what it consistently delivers. Where AI creates measurable return Generating real returns in hotel venue sales with AI is built around keeping operations running at full capacity regardless of what else is happening. That means enquiries being captured and routed cleanly. Availability being confirmed during a conversation rather than after it. Response workflows holding steady whether the team is fully staffed or stretched across competing priorities. The value here is straightforward: your most experienced people stay focused on the conversations and judgement calls that determine whether high-value bookings land. The operational layer takes care of itself. The coordinator who knows a client prefers an informal walk-through is your competitive advantage. AI protects the capacity to be present for that to happen. Hotels seeing meaningful returns from AI

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San Diego, CA – April 8, 2026 – Hostelling International USA (HI USA), the largest hostel network in the US, has selected Cloudbeds , hospitality’s only intelligent growth engine, to modernize operations across its properties. The move supports HI USA’s efforts to streamline workflows, improve operational visibility, and create more meaningful guest experiences aligned with its mission to foster cultural understanding through travel. HI USA hosts more than 600,000 overnight stays annually across a portfolio of unique properties, ranging from historic urban buildings to converted landmarks. As part of its digital transformation, the organization sought a modern, cloud-native platform with enterprise-level capabilities to support the operational complexity of hostel properties while improving efficiency for frontline teams and ensuring consistency across its network. Cloudbeds provides a unified platform that connects property management, distribution, revenue, and guest experience in a single system. Its intuitive design and modern architecture enable HI USA to accelerate onboarding, elevate and streamline the guest journey, and increase agility. The transition also reduces reliance on IT-heavy workflows required by legacy systems, enabling property teams to manage day-to-day operations more independently. “Hostels are where Cloudbeds began, and HI USA represents exactly why,” said Adam Harris, CEO of Cloudbeds. “From day one, we were building for operators who understood that hospitality is about something bigger than a transaction. HI USA has proven that for 80 years. Today, we bring the full weight of our platform to their work — so their teams can spend less time in the system and more time on the human side of hospitality that defines who they are.” “Technology plays a critical role in how we bring our mission to life,” said Sam Hussain, Vice President, Head of IT at Hostelling International USA . “By simplifying operations and reducing administrative work, we can empower our teams to focus on what matters most — creating meaningful connections between people and places. This transition allows us to better support our staff, enhance the guest experience, and deliver on our purpose of fostering cultural understanding through travel.” With Cloudbeds, HI USA is positioned to improve operational consistency while reducing administrative burden, allowing staff to focus more on meaningful guest interactions and the mission-driven experiences that define the hostel model. The platform’s modern, cloud-based infrastructure also gives HI USA the flexibility to evolve its operations and adapt to future needs. As HI USA continues to evolve its operations, the adoption of Cloudbeds reflects a broader shift toward flexible, cloud-based technology that supports both efficiency and purpose-driven hospitality. By unifying systems and simplifying workflows, the organization is better equipped to scale its impact while maintaining the social, cultural, and educational experiences that define the hostel model. About Cloudbeds Cloudbeds is the industry’s only intelligent hotel management system — a unified platform trusted by the world’s most ambitious hoteliers across 150 countries. Built to challenge the limits of outdated tech stacks, Cloudbeds connects operations, revenue, distribution, and guest experience in one powerful, intuitive system. The platform is enhanced with Signals, a

Technology adoption is accelerating while pricing strategies face mounting scrutiny. Hotels are migrating to specialized cloud systems at record pace, yet the revenue management practices driving their business models are encountering public resistance that threatens long-term viability. The disconnect reveals a fundamental challenge: operational tools advance faster than customer acceptance of how they're deployed. Consumer Resistance Threatens Revenue Management Viability Revenue management is encountering sustained public backlash not because the practice fails economically, but because consumers increasingly notice and resent dynamic pricing across industries. The resistance represents a legitimacy crisis rather than a technical problem, with travelers perceiving algorithmic pricing as exploitation despite its widespread acceptance in business strategy → analysis argues the field faces existential threat from consumer sentiment rather than operational effectiveness . Cloud PMS Revenue Jumps 75% as Hotels Favor Specialized Systems Stayntouch reported Q1 2026 new business revenue increased 75% year-over-year with 106% more hotel rooms under contract, signaling acceleration in cloud property management system adoption. Hotels are choosing best-of-breed specialized technology over integrated all-in-one platforms, prioritizing functionality depth in core operations → supplier reports record quarter reflects broader shift toward specialized tech stacks . Operational Coherence Emerges as Critical Challenge The Shiji Insights Podcast's second year identified operational coherence as the industry's primary struggle, with hotels unable to synchronize fragmented technology systems rather than lacking innovation capacity. The finding suggests deployment and integration problems exceed feature gaps as barriers to performance improvement → podcast series concludes system fragmentation outweighs technology innovation as operational constraint . Signals Flexkeeping and MARA Solutions integrated to automatically convert guest review complaints into actionable housekeeping and maintenance tasks. Domes Resorts acquired majority stake in Casa Collective gaining control of 13 hotels across Cook's Club, Casa Cook and XIA brands. Hilton signed franchise agreement for 125 Hampton by Hilton properties in western and southern India through partnership with Royal Orchid Hotels. Minor Hotels targets 50 Indian properties within decade adding Anantara's first resort in Coorg (2028) and urban hotel in Kolkata (2032). Sustainable key card manufacturers offer wood, PLA, and plant-based leather alternatives replacing traditional plastic materials. People Vincent Poulingue joined Mandarin Oriental, Paris as General Manager effective May 18, bringing two decades international luxury hospitality leadership from Hôtel du Palais Biarritz and experience across Hyatt, IHG and Barrière Group. Mark Wouters was appointed General Manager of The Chedi Hegra at Saudi Arabia's first UNESCO World Heritage Site with 20 years experience including flagship properties in Shanghai and The PuXuan Hotel Beijing launch. Julia Harripaul assumed General Manager role at Bay Gardens Beach Resort & Spa and Sapphire Sands Villas after 18 years Caribbean leadership including Blue Waters Resort & Spa and Hodges Bay Resort & Spa. Properties Paradisus Cancun completed renovation entering new positioning era, while Leonardo Hotel Köln relaunched following modernization and Hutton Hotel in Nashville unveiled bold rebrand with comprehensive redesign. Sofitel Changzhou Hi-Tech District opened as Accor's 800th Greater China property. Nikki Beach Resort & Spa Marrakech entered pipeline targeting 2028 opening.

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