Accor, the largest hotel operator in Australia, announced today a new partnership with pay.com.au. As part of this partnership, Accor’s lifestyle loyalty programme, ALL – Accor Live Limitless, has become pay.com.au’s first hotel and experiences transfer partner.
Asking whether hoteliers should use generative AI tools like ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot, or Google Gemini to help plan and execute content in 2024 is a bit like asking whether we should use a property management system to handle rates and inventory. You probably can get by without it, but it's a genuinely bad idea. Let me ask you this: Do you think the smartest hoteliers ignore helpful technology in their marketing and content development practices? What about the OTAs? Of course not.
Can ChatGPT Replace Human-Created Hotel Marketing Content?
Short answer: Yes.
Long answer: Faced with the threat of human obsolescence in the creative sector, I believe the considerations I have previously expressed regarding the future of hospitality also apply to content creation. In an article titled "The Hotels of the Future: Anthropocentric, Technocentric, and Hybrid," I discussed the possibility that, in the near future, three types of hotels might coexist, differentiated not by stars or reputation but by the percentage of biological staff employed. This perspective offers an intriguing parallel with the content creation sector, where I believe two likely scenarios will emerge: on one hand, content produced entirely by humans could become a luxury ("Human-as-Luxury"), sought after for its authenticity and intrinsic value, similarly to the contemporary appreciation for traditional craftsmanship. On the other hand, the figure of the content "creator-as-director" emerges, who utilizes artificial intelligence models to execute content, thereby redesigning the human role from creator to project manager. This discussion is more easily understandable, I believe, by looking at the world of art (which is the purest and least vile form of content creation):
Tools like ChatGPT or Google Gemini are phenomenal copywriters and should be used as enablers, tools to make our work easier, quicker, and more creative. Thus, it's not a matter of hoteliers "replacing" content creators with generative AI tools but rather making the most of them to become more productive and efficient.
Yes, these tools can provide a significant degree of heavy lifting. With a little more training and relevant targeted content these tools can also pick up on levels of nuance and style. Although care should be taken to ensure that the produced information is not in some ways plagiarized from the existing reference pool of content.
Hilton (NYSE: HLT) has today announced a global ambassador partnership with Indian actress, producer, philanthropist, and entrepreneur, Deepika Padukone. The partnership is an extension to Hilton’s first global marketing platform, ‘Hilton. For The Stay,’ in India, spotlighting why it matters where you stay amid continued demand for travel in the region.
Chinese New Year this year falls on February 10th and is considered one of the largest annual tourism events in the world. Tens of millions of travelers across the country take a trip to see family, enjoy cultural highlights and make the most of the celebrations, generating hundreds of billions of yuan for travel sellers, providers and intermediaries.
Travel Meet Asia boasts over 500 attendees, with over 200 carefully selected Indonesian buyers and a diverse range of exhibitors, featuring industry leaders from notable companies like Bintan Resorts, Frasers Hospitality, Royal Caribbean International, and many more. The event offers a personalised business matching system for guaranteed meetings and a comprehensive two-day conference programme exploring trends in the Southeast Asian travel landscape.
As Chinese New Year approaches, hoteliers in Greater China should prepare for a welcome surge in visitors. Unique forward-looking hotel booking data from Amadeus shows high demand for travel across various cities for the upcoming holiday period which runs February 10-17th.
Thailand’s position as the world’s leading “lifestyle” travel destination was the hot topic of debate at Thailand Tourism Forum 2024 (TTF), held at InterContinental Bangkok yesterday as AI emerged as a key driver to the future success of the country’s tourism industry.Founded by Bill Barnett, TTF is Thailand’s leading platform for travel and tourism discussion. Industry leaders from government and private sectors come together each year in January at the eagerly awaited annual forum for insights and indicators for the future trends of the sector.“Every tourism outfit and hotel are AI companies whether they realize it or not,” said Mr Barnett, who is also managing director C9 Hotelworks. “With the lightening development of AI, this is a call to action for hospitality to return to its roots of a service culture as technology frees up human resources and allows our industry to focus on what is important – people. AI is not a shadow cast over hospitality, it’s a bright shining light.”
Belmont Hotel Manila is a 4-star hotel strategically located across from the airport, NAIA Terminal 3, and within the renowned entertainment destination of Newport City in Manila. It is a “home away from home” for local and international business travelers as well as vacationers who seek convenience, safety, and consistency in excellent service. Belmont Hotel Manila is proudly a local brand that is part of Megaworld Hotels & Resorts – one of the largest hospitality chains in the Philippines.
Bangkok will once again play host for the upcoming Thailand Tourism Forum 2024.Topping the event whose theme is ‘Time for Growth’ will be Aditip Panupong from Google giving insight into how AI is changing the country’s tourism sector.Featuring the leading stakeholders and speakers from across the industry, including Patrick Both, Area General Manager, Luxury & Lifestyle Thailand, IHG Hotels & Resorts, the event will be held at the newly refurbished InterContinental Bangkok, starting at 3pm on Monday January 15.
In its three years since entering the Chinese market, voco hotels has experienced noteworthy growth, capitalizing on the existing hotel market and demonstrating a commitment to environmental sustainability through the lens of art to provide an enjoyable and sustainable travel experience.
CLLIX Apartments and Hotels, a leading name in the hospitality industry in Australia, is pleased to announce its collaboration with SiteMinder, the name behind the only software platform that unlocks the full revenue potential of hotels, as the group seeks to maximise strengthening business travel volumes. CLLIX has successfully migrated all 16 of its properties onto SiteMinder’s GDS platform, making them readily available and bookable to a broader audience that includes the corporate travel community.
Where else could you catch a hyperfast train from an ancient royal palace to a coastal paradise, lose yourself in a night of karaoke and stay in a hotel with 600-year-old underfloor heating? From the irresistible appeal of K-pop to the majesty of Joseon dynasty architecture and the stunning scenery of Jeju Island, South Korea is a unique destination on the bucket list of travelers from around the world.
HUALUXE Hotels and Resorts, joined by brand ambassador Jingting Bai and three esteemed cultural heritage practitioners, recently came together at HUALUXE Beijing Xinan for a captivating brand experience event, "Embracing Chinese Culture with HUALUXE". Seamlessly merging Chinese intangible heritage traditional crafts like tie-dye, shadow puppetry, and Kingfisher feather art with modern dance, the event offered guests a vibrant sensory immersion into Chinese culture and aesthetics. This year, remaining steadfast in its philosophy, all HUALUXE properties continue to infuse Chinese elegance with cultural heritage experiences, ensuring that the essence of China's rich cultural heritage is intricately woven into every HUALUXE stay.
IDeaS, a SAS company, the world’s leading provider of hotel revenue management software and services, today announced that iconic Indonesian hotel-resort, Desa Potato Head, has adopted IDeaS G3 Revenue Management System (RMS). Following a recent business expansion, this adoption will refine its revenue management approach and deliver room-type optimisation.
Airbnb, VRBO, and vacation rentals did surprisingly well during the pandemic. Many travelers choose to stay in home-sharing or vacation rental facilities over hotels for a reason. That shows how strongly consumers demand a new type of lodging product.
The question is fallacious, as it's set up in black-and-white terms. We're stuck in this loop of "traditional hospitality good, alternative hospitality bad." But, you know what? We have to stop thinking like that! Travelers certainly don't; for them, hospitality is hospitality, no fancy labels needed.Do vacation rentals speed up gentrification?
The impact of inventory loss within the travel and hospitality sector's key markets is a multifaceted issue with far-reaching consequences for both businesses and their clientele. These markets are often the lifeblood of demand, making any decline in resources a matter of significant concern.
I believe the vacation rental industry is to blame itself for these very restrictive regulations and all of its recent woes. For years it fought against licensing its hosts. Fought against including local hotel taxes in its pricing as if their customers didn"t need public infrastructure and safety, street lighting, etc.
The ability to source detailed information based upon complex questions is an extremely powerful tool. The time saving possibilties from the travel research perspective are tremendous. While there is critique of the quality of feedback and recommendation at what is still a relatively early stage, this will continue to improve as information portals increase their suitability for access of their information to the various AI tools.
In the near term, the biggest opportunities AI provides for driving direct revenue revolve around creating richer, more personalized experiences at each stage of the guest journey. Hotel marketers can use AI to better segment potential guests based on behaviors and deliver content and offers — at scale — that match those segments' intent. Increasingly, you can let the AI select and orchestrate campaign messages, images, and offers that align with the needs of potential guests, and drive conversion. Similarly, these tools can provide intelligent rate displays and offer attractive upsell opportunities to guests to improve the revenue you achieve during each stay. Real-time guest service during the booking process, including chat, can help improve that experience and increase conversion rate.