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Hotel Yearbook Article The Hotel Yearbook 2025 - Technology Edition

The Hive Mind of Hospitality: Why Your Data Needs a Bigger Village

There’s no shortage of hype around AI right now. Everyone’s talking, posting, paneling. But here’s the thing: most of it misses the point. If you’re in hospitality, the question isn’t whether AI matters, it’s how you make it matter for your business. Not in some distant future, robots running the lobby kind of way, but in the here and now. In the everyday moments where performance is won or lost. Because while the spotlight stays fixed on shiny AI travel assistants and chatbots with witty comebacks, the real advantage, the one that moves the needle, is quietly waiting behind the scenes.

Brian Reeves
By Brian Reeves, Founder and CEO, The roomangel Foundation, roomangel
Hotel Yearbook Article The Hotel Yearbook 2025 - Technology Edition

Guest “Experience” is the New Currency: Benchmarking That Moves the Hospitality Needle

In hospitality today, what matters most cannot always be seen on a checklist. The guest experience has become the defining product, shaped not just by the room or the view but by every moment of interaction and ease. A warm greeting, a seamless digital check-in, a timely response to a simple request. These are now the hallmarks of value. As expectations rise, so does the need to measure what truly moves the guest. This is where guest experience benchmarking steps in, not just as a performance tool but as a strategic lens for building loyalty, trust and lasting impressions.

Ryan King
By Ryan King, Senior Vice President for the Americas, Shiji
Hotel Yearbook Article The Hotel Yearbook 2025 - Technology Edition

Top Property Management System Trends Defining the Future of Hospitality

The Property Management System is no longer just the engine room quietly humming in the background. It’s becoming the brain of the operation. As guest journeys grow more complex and expectations rise, the PMS is stepping out from behind the curtain and into a starring role. Not just as a system of record, but as a platform for revenue growth, service delivery, and operational agility. The real shift is not just about building better tech. It is about rethinking what the PMS is and what it needs to become. This article explores the six key trends reshaping that future and what it means for operators who are ready to move beyond the status quo.

Frank Pitsikalis
By Frank Pitsikalis, Senior Vice President, Product Strategy, Hotels, Agilysys
Hotel Yearbook Article The Hotel Yearbook 2025 - Technology Edition

Outlet or Boutique? The Strategic Power of Dual Revenue Management

For years, hotel revenue strategy has defaulted to a one size fits all model: optimize for RevPAR, chase occupancy, and call it success. But the landscape has shifted. Guests are savvier, channels more fragmented, and margin tighter than ever. In this complexity, a new clarity is emerging. Some hotels don’t want to be everything to everyone. They want to be something distinct to someone. That is where Dual Revenue Management steps in, not as a tweak to existing models, but as a rethinking of how value and volume can coexist. This is not about choosing sides. It is about choosing structure. A smarter, more nuanced framework where distribution is no longer a battlefield but a strategy board, and every move has a purpose.

Piergiorgio Schirru
By Piergiorgio Schirru, Executive Vice President & Board Member, Blastness
Hotel Yearbook Article The Hotel Yearbook 2025 - Technology Edition

Infinite Hospitality: How Tech is Driving The Era of Property Convergence

Hospitality is no longer defined by the type of key handed over at check-in. Whether it is a hotel room for two nights, a short-term rental for a week, or an extended stay that blends work and leisure, today’s guests move fluidly between formats. What they expect in return is simplicity, consistency, and digital ease. The convergence we are seeing across property types, guest segments, and operating models is not a trend; it is a structural shift. And behind this shift is a pressing question for operators: can your tech keep up?

Florian MontagJulius Anders
By Florian Montag and Julius Anders
Hotel Yearbook Article The Hotel Yearbook 2025 - Technology Edition

Hospitality’s Innovative Future Rests on Modular and Integrated Proptech Solutions

The hospitality industry has never lacked technology. What it has lacked is cohesion. For years, hotels have layered system upon system, vendor upon vendor, hoping that one more plugin or upgrade might unlock the seamless guest experience everyone talks about but few actually deliver. And yet, despite all the investment, many properties still find themselves stuck, trapped between legacy infrastructure and rising guest expectations. It is not a lack of innovation that is holding them back. It is fragmentation. In this article, we explore why the future of hospitality depends not just on more tech, but smarter, integrated tech, and how a modular, connected approach is reshaping everything from operations to the guest journey.

Nicolás Aznar
By Nicolás Aznar, President, Americas, Vingcard, an ASSA ABLOY brand
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Hotel Yearbook Article The Hotel Yearbook 2025 - Technology Edition

User Adoption Isn’t Enough: Accelerate Proficiency & ROI in Hospitality Tech

For all the buzz around digital transformation in hospitality, the reality is far less polished. Technology is being bought, installed, and announced with fanfare, yet it’s still not delivering on its promise. Why? Because installing tech isn’t the same as adopting it. And adopting it isn’t the same as mastering it. 

Melissa Jurkoic
By Melissa Jurkoic, Chief Operating Officer (COO), Benson Consulting Inc.
Hotel Yearbook Article The Hotel Yearbook 2025 - Technology Edition

Hotel Guest-Facing Automation vs. Traditional Manual Systems: An Evolving Landscape of Service Delivery

The adoption of automation in hotel guest services has inspired both enthusiasm and hesitation. While the promise of streamlined operations and elevated guest experiences is clear, the reality on the ground is more complex. Automation is not sweeping across the guest journey uniformly; rather, it is advancing in fits and starts, finding strong footholds in some areas while barely disrupting others. This analysis offers a structured, stage by stage examination of where automation is currently outperforming manual systems, where the two coexist in equilibrium, and where the irreplaceable value of human interaction still holds firm. The objective is not to crown a victor in the automation versus manual debate, but to understand how these modes of service interact and where their balance best serves both operational goals and guest expectations.

Carl Winston
By Carl Winston, Founding Director, Payne School, L. Robert Payne School of Hospitality & Tourism Management at San Diego State University (SDSU)
Development Opening

Park Hyatt Emerges in South Africa with the Opening of Park Hyatt Johannesburg

Hyatt Hotels Corporation (NYSE: H) today announced the opening of Park Hyatt Johannesburg, marking the luxury brand's third destination in the African region. Set within the vibrant Rosebank district, celebrated for its cultural richness and urban vitality - Park Hyatt Johannesburg offers a refined, residential-style experience where thoughtful design, immersive art, and warm hospitality come together in perfect balance.

Park Hyatt
Johannesburg, South Africa
Hotel Yearbook Article The Hotel Yearbook 2025 - Technology Edition

Hospitality Tech Doesn’t Speak For Itself

Let’s be honest. In hospitality tech, shouting louder doesn’t mean being heard. You can have the best product, the most visionary team, and the slickest interface in the industry, but if you can’t tell your story clearly, to the right people, at the right time, you’ll be stuck spinning your wheels. Strategic communication isn’t just about press releases and buzzwords. It’s about translating complexity into clarity, turning technical features into business value, and building a brand people actually trust. Whether you're courting investors, selling to hotel operators, or rallying your internal team, great communication is your unfair advantage. And in a noisy, crowded, fast moving market, it might just be your most important one.

Anne Bleeker
By Anne Bleeker, Founder and Managing Director, IN2 Consulting
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Hotel Yearbook Article The Hotel Yearbook 2025 - Technology Edition

Shaping the Future of Hospitality: Innovations and Technologies for the Present and Beyond

Let’s face it. Hospitality isn’t what it used to be. And that’s a good thing. We’ve moved beyond bellhops and buffets as the main differentiators. Today’s guest doesn’t just want a clean room and a friendly smile. They expect seamless, intuitive, tech-powered experiences that feel personal without feeling invasive. At the same time, hotel teams are navigating a complex mix of pressure points, from labor shortages to cybersecurity, from contactless everything to space tourism, no less.

Tevfik Demirciftci
By Tevfik Demirciftci, Assistant Professor of Hospitality, Colorado Mesa University
Hotel Yearbook Article The Hotel Yearbook 2025 - Technology Edition

Why We Still Can’t Get Sh*t Done: Breaking the Traps That Hold Us Back

If you’ve worked in hospitality long enough, you know this dance. The strategy decks pile up. The ideas are solid. The problems are clear. And yet somehow we’re still stuck. Not because we’re clueless. Not because we’re lazy. But because something always gets in the way of execution. The day gets busy. The budget gets tight. The email gets buried. And before you know it, the thing you meant to tackle is still sitting on your to-do list, three quarters later. 

Dan Wacksman
By Dan Wacksman, Principal, Sassato LLC
Hotel Yearbook Article The Hotel Yearbook 2025 - Technology Edition

The Final Differentiator: Empowering Human Connection in a Tech-Driven Hospitality Future

You can automate the check-in. You can personalize the minibar. You can even predict a guest’s room temperature preference based on weather and booking channel. But unless the experience leaves someone feeling seen, none of it matters. As AI becomes the quiet engine running hospitality in the background, the real question isn’t what we can do with it. It’s what we choose to make visible. Because in a world where technology handles the complexity, the defining moments will be defined by something simpler: the warmth of human connection.

Mike Rawson
By Mike Rawson, Chief Information Officer, citizenM, Another Star
Hotel Yearbook Article The Hotel Yearbook 2025 - Technology Edition

Emerging Dynamics in Hospitality in 2025: A Future Around Digital Identity

Hospitality has never just been about rooms, rates, or reservations. It’s about recognition: the ability to know your guest, remember their preferences, and deliver a stay that feels like it was designed just for them. In today’s world, that recognition is going digital. From biometric check-ins to identity-linked loyalty rewards, a quiet revolution is unfolding, one guest profile at a time. But this is not simply about using technology for the sake of it. It is about creating seamless, secure, and personalized journeys that begin well before arrival and continue long after departure.

Pedro Torres
By Pedro Torres, CEO and Co-Founder, Youverse
Hotel Yearbook Article The Hotel Yearbook 2025 - Technology Edition

Do’s & Don’ts for Turning Guest Data Into Direct Bookings

You have probably heard it before: your guest data is one of your hotel's most valuable assets. But here’s the uncomfortable truth. Most of it is just sitting there, untouched. Unused. Unloved. And that’s a problem. Because data doesn’t drive value unless it’s activated. When you connect the dots between systems, teams, and guest touchpoints, magic happens. Suddenly, you are not just sending emails, you are sending the right message to the right guest at the right time. You are not just answering phone calls, you are anticipating needs. And you are not just looking at dashboards, you are making decisions that move the needle on loyalty, bookings, and revenue. Ready to turn that data dust into gold? Let’s get into it.

Karen Stephens
By Karen Stephens, Chief Marketing Officer, Revinate, Inc.
Hotel Yearbook Article The Hotel Yearbook 2025 - Technology Edition

Technology Mindset

As the hospitality industry stands at a crossroads between tradition and innovation, Ian Millar—Senior Lecturer in Entrepreneurship and Innovation at EHL and a leading authority in hospitality technology—invites readers to rethink long-held assumptions about the guest experience. Drawing on his dual expertise in hospitality and information technology, as well as his experience advising hotels and technology startups worldwide, Millar explores how a technology mindset is not only compatible with great service, but essential for meeting the evolving expectations of guests in 2025 and beyond.

Ian Millar
By Ian Millar, Senior Lecturer Hospitality Technology, EHL
Hotel Yearbook Article The Hotel Yearbook 2025 - Technology Edition

Do's & Don'ts of Going Paperless and Digital in the Guest Journey

If you have traveled in the past couple of decades, you have likely experienced a hotel room overflowing with printed material. Menus, brochures, directories, safety guides, city maps, and the occasional glossy magazine were all part of the package. While once helpful, this paper overload feels increasingly out of place in today’s connected world. Guests now expect simplicity, clarity, and digital access.

Nikolay Beloshitsky
By Nikolay Beloshitsky, CEO and founder, Hoteza