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"Hand-thought is the new hand-built. In luxury, human-curated service — powered by AI — is the next premium." The CIO role has moved far beyond infrastructure. We’re no longer just maintaining networks — we’re shaping the future of the guest experience.

"Forget the hype — the true power of AI lies in the back office, not in guest-facing gimmicks." Technology has become central to our business planning. IT is no longer a support function — it’s a strategic pillar. I’m increasingly involved in shaping commercial roadmaps, evaluating distribution platforms, and making long-term investment decisions.

Every department is becoming its own tech expert — our job is to enable, not dictate." We’re witnessing a cultural shift in how technology is adopted within hospitality businesses. End users are increasingly tech-literate — they’re evaluating tools on their own, consulting peers, and coming to IT with clear preferences.

We focus on using technology to create seamless and personalised guest experiences while also improving performance. One example is how guests can easily add extras such as late checkout or breakfast directly from their phone at check-in.

One simple example that recently impressed me was receiving a WhatsApp message allowing me to check in online. It was seamless and aligned with what many guests now expect. In fact, we know that around 63 percent of millennials prefer the option to check in online.

At Staypineapple, we use Mews across all of our properties and have started incorporating AI to help us better understand our guests before they arrive. We combine this with other data—like reviews and past preferences—to build a more complete picture of who is staying with us.

I was shocked by the claim that there were hoteliers linking their property websites' "Book Now" buttons directly to the OTAs. In hospitality we had a few cases like these back in the year 2000. But now, 25 years later? First, direct bookings are cheaper than OTA bookings.

OTAs are not a strategy - they're a costly crutch. The idea of abandoning direct online distribution in favor of exclusive reliance on OTAs is not only shortsighted — it's dangerous. OTAs are useful tools in a diversified distribution strategy when demand is not strong, but surrendering full control to them is a fast track to eroded margins and loss of brand equity.

Handing your business over to a lottery outcome. Sounds like a great idea! One should not outsource something mission critical to the business. If selling product isn't mission critical, then I suppose knock yourself out! There is no doubt that competing is a tough business.

Why are we always trying to oppose one against the other in terms of online search? Organic search and paid search should be seen as a single, unified digital marketing strategy. They complement and amplify each other. Why? they have a shared goal: visibility, traffic, credibility and conversion amplified by AI personalisation, the data analysis synergy: it allows to focus only on the 'converting' terms and inform the SEO content actions.

The answer is rather straightforward: if somebody is bidding on your brand terms (OTAs and affiliates, for example), you are leaving clicks and bookings on the table if you do not: that additional spot in the SERP affects your conversion rates significantly.

Who searches your hotel by its official name? These are your past guests, people referred by friends and family, people influenced by word-of-mouth, people who have read positive reviews on social media or PR about the property.

What a great topic, indeed 'failures' are great learning opportunities for the organisation itself as well as others when shared publicly. A mindset of continouus improvement, that is for example inherent to ISO certifications, would enable companies to shift the 'failure' vs 'success' narrative and culture.

Many SME accommodation owners begin their sustainability journey with enthusiasm but often fail to sustain long-term change. A key barrier is underestimating the time and commitment needed to overhaul operational processes across departments.

To make progress on sustainability, I believe we need to build a culture that values curiosity over criticism, encouraging people to explore what works, what doesn’t, and why. That means treating new ideas as experiments, not tests to pass or fail.

In my opinion AI and robotics will disrupt the industry's jobs on a few different levels. The guest transactional experience will be the first to be affected and the first jobs to go will be in customer service, especially call centers, reservations, operators, etc.

A couple of key considerations impact the outcome and this will come down to a per business environment. These are - What is your philosophy toward the delivery of hospitality, which is a human to human condition? What 'level' of product are you offering to the market - do you currently deliver hospitality (service and care) with your existing product?

Technologies like AI, robotics, automation, mobility and IoT are called upon to solve a number of issues in hospitality: Solve dull, repetitive, dirty or dangerous jobs. Solve high turnover of trained employees (20%-30%) Solve problems like poor discipline, lack of motivation, etc.