Technology

Everyone wants the hotel tech stack to be more guest-centric and hopes AI will help to deliver a more personalized experience. This future will be centered around the PMS as the hub for rooms-centric operations and the CRM/CDP for repeat-visit-oriented relationships with guests.A strong connection between these two systems is vital to have the CRM/CDP ingest the most information about guests so that ML has big and accurate data sets by which to recommend segments, retool rates, create suggested packages, A/B upselling offers and so on.But both of these systems are back-of-house.

There is really no difference between preparing data for Gen AI and for other tech tools: structured data must be normalised, deduplicated, and governed, while Gen AI is best applied to unstructured sources like reviews, transcripts, or free-text notes.

AI in hospitality cannot be reduced to a fixed list of use cases, because the technology and its applications evolve too quickly and vary too widely across companies. Each organisation runs on its own mix of operations, tech stacks, data flows, and structures, which means their AI opportunities will always be unique to their context and business challenges.

The age of the hotel brand is ending. For decades, franchises have scaled by selling sameness, consistency over individuality. AI breaks that logic. AI reshapes the vectors of discovery. Instead of guests defaulting to familiar logos or loyalty programs, intelligent systems surface the properties that best match a traveler's needs, preferences, and context.

This is part of a bigger question, I think. As a marketing guy, let me explain it through distribution, using Booking.com as the example. Booking spends billions on advertising, dominates search, builds the user experience that has become the industry template, and runs a multilingual customer service that often outperforms independent hotels.

Yes. It's not limited to franchises and is a pretty long standing clause in agreements. There largely because it was not as prominent a consideration back in the day from a data and technology perspective - harder to get data out of a peice of on premise technology that the owner paid for.

About 18 months ago, some people on LinkedIn touted that Conversational Interfaces would kill off websites. Current status? Tumbleweed. Visuals sell things, text supports. Websites enable owners to portray their brand and products/services as they see fit.

The rapid advancement of AI, especially agentic technologies, is fundamentally changing hotel distribution and guest engagement. Recent data shows that only about 25% of AI-generated hotel information now comes from hotel websites; the rest is sourced from OTAs, public databases, and proprietary data.

I don't believe AI will make hotel websites obsolete. If we learn anything from the past, every obstacle creates opportunity. Technology's direction isn't a single script; there are multiple paths and approaches. Where a problem needs to be solved, a tool will emerge to solve it.

What's always amazed me is the lack of real-time coordination between the hotel and dining teams in terms of already knowing guest preferences the moment they identify themselves at the restaurant host station. Precisely because there isn't typically quick coordination between these two silos, that leaves a ton of room for wow moments that technology can execute in an automated, scalable and real-time manner.

Seamless Data: The Truth About Why Your Organization Isn't There Yet In the dynamic landscape of hospitality, the growing momentum towards unified hotel technology and seamless data flow across departments and guest touchpoints is undeniable.

The idea of crafting experiences around a centralized, real-time guest profile represents more than a technical upgrade; it signals a paradigm shift. We are moving from an analog conception of hospitality to a computational one, where data no longer serves the experience but is the experience.

Our work with clients on personalization is rooted in the fundamental view that we've always aimed to better match what we have to offer with what a guest truly desires. This is particularly crucial when a property offers a diverse range of products beyond just rooms, where strategic personalization can genuinely elevate the guest's enjoyment by more accurately aligning offerings with their individual preferences.

The real threat today isn't personalization creating an echo chamber, it's hotels failing to meet the expectations of generations raised on TikTok, Spotify, and Instagram. Gen Alpha and Gen Z aren't marveling at algorithmic recommendations; they expect them.

Let's be blunt: most hotels haven't even reached personalization, let alone hyperpersonalization. And while Booking.com, Netflix, and Amazon are masters of knowing what you want before you do, many hotels still worship the PMS like it's the digital holy grail.

All-in-one, hands down. Advantages are: Fewer vendors to talk to, saving time Fewer dashboards to look at, preventing dashboard fatigue Fewer interfaces to maintain Better data streaming (not guaranteed though) Steamlined billing There are exceptions to this, especially for emerging categories, but in a world of "satisficing", keeping it simple rules the day.

A very topical question which also came up at the HFTP Barcelona CIO Summit recently. There was no single answer as it will always depend on the particular situation. For a small hotel/BnB, a combo PMS/POS/IBE product like Avon Data, Heart or BookAssist may suffice and would do a very good job.

In a word, yes. All the major players in industry are working towards a hospitality 'platform' solution. Yes, you may be able to purchase the pieces separately, which is purely commercial. But they are designed and intended to support across business operations.

"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.

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.

... Back office. In all its flavours, from finance reconciliation (via Predictive AI/ML based RPA tools), guest feedback analysis (via Gen AI tools), Revenue Management (via Predictive AI, which has been in place for over a decade already), and marketing SEO/PR copywriting (via Gen AI text and graphic tools), HR (eg tools to auto read/select/deselect CVs based on Gen AI tools), and some staff productivity (eg via Copilot for email filtering).

I believe that the single biggest impact AI will have on hospitality is in REVENUE MANAGEMENT. Today's hospitality revenue managers navigate an increasingly complex environment shaped by shifting consumer preferences and remaining competitive.

Transitioning hospitality from Mobile-first to AI-first will be the greatest transformation of our industry since the advent of the Internet. Within this AI transformation, I believe agentic AI will have the single biggest impact on our industry.

The first observation is that things are developing very quickly. As compared to Moore's law, the pace of next generation AI capablities are developing at a speed that is hard to fathom based upon our species past technical endeavours.

AI Agents are a fundamentally different way to interact with data and knowledge. We are now in the phase of replicating the current status with agents (for example, to build a travel itinerary), like the first TV programs were radio shows with a camera, but pretty quickly we'll evolve to find new ways of doing the same things.

No, most hoteliers are not ready for the new era of personal AI agents. Hotels have historically been cautious about new technology, and for good reason. But AI-driven hotel discovery isn't necessarily about tech adoption. It's about storytelling.AI relies on natural language processing, so hotels should publish blog posts and substantive content that answer traveler queries on their websites.

By 2025, over 85 million existing jobs will be lost due to the seismic shift toward AI, robotization and automation, according to WEF, McKinsey and OECD. Last year labor costs exceeded 1/3 of hotel revenue and AI, robotization and automation are becoming increasingly appealing to hotel owners and operators.

Could we see digital workers comprising half of the hospitality workforce, as they already do at Amazon in this decade? Yes. This model aligns perfectly with the limited and select service layer of the industry. Under such a model I would call it the 'no service' or dormitory management layer.

To thrive in an increasingly digital world, hotels must embrace AI to deliver the highly personalized experiences modern guests demand. However, as with any transformation, it's critical not to put the cart before the horse. Before investing in advanced AI-driven solutions, hotels should first establish a strong, sustainable data foundation—a Central Guest Profile (CGP) that aggregates guest information across all touchpoints of the customer journey.

The big OTAs like Expedia/Bing and Booking are already using gen AI tools to expand searches to trip itineraries, eg Bing's Copilot. It's still early days as the Bing tool clearly just does keyword searches and then uses OpenAI to write a (good) narrative based on the results.

While a ton can be said about the various ways that AI will affect travel, one specific behavioral adjustment we will see is the resurgence of voice-based interactions. After all, what's easier to do: talk or type? For most, we can speak a lot faster than we can plug information into a computer or phone.

I generally agree with this forecast, Simone. My long held view is that the more technology becomes 'conversational', to use the current en vogue term, or voice enabled, which has long been my bent, the more friendly and accessible technology becomes.

Robotic cleaning of lobby and corridor areas make sense, plus robotic grass cutting. Less relevant for room cleaning given the corners and obstacles, although Neom is exploring this. Car parking via flat bots that rise up and lift the car off its wheels also work well and can optimise space in limited car parks.

This year labor costs in hospitality consume 1/3 of hotel revenue (STR) and robotization and automation are becoming increasingly appealing to hotel owners and operators. Ex. Robots like Rosie by Tailos, thousands of which have already been deployed at various hotels, clean guest rooms 20 percent faster and public areas up to 80 percent faster than human housekeepers.

Of course! We've seen robots in progressive hotels and resorts for years. You're right that cleaning and innovative food delivery are the easier pickings. But we should discuss that bright red line that starts and ends with the front desk.

My take remains the same: there is no such thing as "total" revenue management. Revenue is revenue, period. When you buy a pair of Nikes at a sneaker shop, they come with shoelaces; shoelaces are not considered "ancillary" revenue.

The evolution of the Revenue Management discipline in our industry, since its inception 40 years ago, has been driven by large franchised organizations and management companies that care about RevPAR because that's how their business models are structured and that is how they are incentivized.

One of the big megatrends for hospitality is the increasing value of mixed-use branded properties where every revenue stream (rooms, ancillaries and stay-independent) acts to synergize each other. All the greatest hoteliers have tacitly appreciated this quality, especially in luxury, but they haven’t been able quantify the relationships between spending habits within different verticals because of the disconnected nature of software databases.

The question needs to be reworded to ask how Generative AI (Gen-AI) will transform the industry, as Predictive AI (P-AI) has been core to revenue management / pricing systems for decades. P-AI has also been fundamental to RPA - Robotic Process Automation - which links disparate systems that may not have APIs.

We will in a world of abundance: destinations, flight routes, accomodations, restaurants. This has created a paradox of choice wherein the discovery process of deciding where to go (for leisure), what hotel to book and where to dine is almost a chore in that it can take up a ton of time.

Let’s start with the second question. First, you need an AI strategy, and an AI strategy holds or falls apart with your data strategy. To use AI, you need to work with good, clean data. For example, suppose your systems are littered with duplicate profiles.

I believe there will be a large shift over a long period of time. However there's a visual aspect of information that doesn't exist in a query type conversational level. Visual and sound create the emotional reaction. So generative on an "answer my question" level I think yes, but not on an inpirational level.

I agree that we're witnessing the rise of a new, AI-driven interface to the internet, which will expand but not entirely replace today's web interface. GAI chatbots are the first step, worrying Google about the future of its profitable search engine.

In a word, no. Conversational interfaces have their place, but they would add friction to airline, hotel, and restaurant searches. Amazon some years back tried to promote and monetise voice search via its Alexa devices, but no one was interested.

Any hotel group which values the direct channel (brand.com) already knows that data science has been at the core of digital marketing in hospitality for many years. It's fundamental to customer segmentation, targeting and results measurement.

The data fragmentation in hospitality is a huge challenge the industry faces today. Guest and operational data lives in multiple "data islands" that do not talk to each other: PMS, CRS, WBE, CRM, ORM, CMS, DMS, Social Media and BI.

Data science is an area of expertise that needs specialists, similar to other areas like design and creativity. Typically, most companies have outsourced these non-core functions; in the case of creativity, to ad agencies, for example.