TOP NEWS

🏨 Mews, a hospitality technology platform, raised $75 million in funding led by Tiger Global with Kinnevik, Goldman Sachs Alternatives, and Battery Ventures. In 2024, Mews grew over 50% year-on-year, processed $10 billion in payments, generated $200 million in revenue, and achieved 20% market penetration in DACH. The U.S. saw Mews' revenue and brand usage double, with room and space management also more than doubling. The investment will further R&D in AI and expansion, with over $50 million invested in the U.S. in recent years.

💸 Revenue maximization for hotels involves leveraging all opportunities to maximize income, not just relying on ADR and RevPAR. The five building blocks of revenue maximization include optimization through AI-powered RMS with reported up to 35% higher RevPAR and 37% higher ADR, diversification of space usage, automated payment systems for fast and accurate transactions, enhancement of guest experience with potential revenue growth, and protection of revenue with security measures against chargebacks and fraud. Merchants lost 4.4% of revenue to chargebacks in 2019. Hotels implementing Mews ecosystem reported a 290% ROI over three years, a 31% reduction in manual human error, a 24% increase in front desk efficiency, and 7.3% ADR growth.

📌 Occupancy-based KPIs, like Occupancy %, RevPAR (Revenue per Available Room), NetRevPAR, TRevPAR (Total Revenue per Available Room), and GOPPAR (Gross Operating Profit per Available Room), present a narrow view of hotel performance, often leading to short-term revenue gains at the expense of long-term profitability and guest satisfaction. These KPIs can incentivize discounting to fill rooms, increase operational expenses, and erode brand value. Alternative metrics such as RPG (Revenue per Guest), PPG (Profit per Guest), Guest LTV (Lifetime Value), and productivity indicators (e.g., Revenue per Worked Hour) offer a more comprehensive approach by focusing on guest-centric profitability and strategic growth. Adopting such KPIs enables hotels to move beyond immediate occupancy rates, aligning daily operations with long-term financial health and service quality.

🎮 At MURTEC (March 10-12, Caesar’s Forum, Las Vegas), Magicgate presents XR solutions targeting restaurant challenges. Offerings include VR Training, AR Remote Support, AR Data Visualization, AR-Activated Marketing, and Immersive Haptic Devices. MURTEC 2025 spotlights industry innovations, networking, and education for QSR and full-service segments. For demos, contact Skip Kimpel at [email protected] or 954-257-8252.

🤖 AI is becoming increasingly common in multiple industries, including hospitality, where up to 95% of independent, full-service restaurants utilize it for operations such as inventory management and menu optimization—each used by 35% of respondents. Nikky Phinyawatana of Asian Mint in Dallas-Fort Worth uses ChatGPT for creative and strategic support, including brainstorming menu items and promotions like the “longevity duck khao soi” for Lunar New Year. Wayfare Tavern in San Francisco employs Panso, an all-in-one hospitality management system with AI, for event sales and marketing, while Casa Gianna in Miami uses AI-powered Craftable for inventory and purchasing insights. The 2024 National Restaurant Show in Chicago highlighted the potential of AI like ChatGPT as a cost-effective alternative to consulting services.

🏨 Hotelier services have evolved beyond just providing a room; they now include amenities like 24/7 reception, room cleaning, dining options, spa, gym, airport transfers, concierge service, pet-friendly amenities, and technological features such as automated check-in/out and AI chatbots. These services are key for enhancing guest experience and loyalty, impacting TRevPAR and helping hotels stand out. La Butte hotel in Brittany is an example, utilizing a chatbot to promote its restaurants and spa, resulting in easy booking access for guests. AI, particularly HiJiffy's tools, optimizes the promotion of hotel services through chatbots, personalized WhatsApp campaigns with impressive open rates of 93%, and widget campaigns for immediate visibility on hotel websites. These strategies lead to increased bookings and revenue without overburdening hotel staff.

🏨 Cloudbeds, a PMS leader in over 150 countries, partners with Duetto, a top revenue strategy platform, to enhance hoteliers' profit and operational efficiency. The integration, available early Q2 2025 for all joint customers by summer 2025, offers real-time two-way synchronization, comprehensive analytics, and performance tracking. Cloudbeds, recognized by Deloitte's Technology Fast 500 in 2024, and Duetto, rated #1 revenue management system (2022-2025), aim to revolutionize hotel management with this strategic collaboration.

🎧 In Mexico, unexpected harmonies were found in unlikely places: the Dallas-Fort Worth airport, usually a symbol of ugliness, and a restroom where a janitor cared deeply for his work. Despite the negative expectations, a birthday song and a janitor's smile created warmth. Later, arriving at a grungy parking lot in a third-world city, the author's experience was transformed by warm mariachi music inside a 120-year-old log cabin restaurant, where the owner's hospitality shone.