Today, Tambourine, the global leader in hospitality marketing technology, announces the acquisition of ReservHotel, the leading hotel reservation platform serving the CALA region (Caribbean and Latin America), with the mission of bringing this best-in-class technology to its hotel partners across North America.
"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.
The French hospitality industry is at a crossroads. Between stricter regulations, rising operational costs, and increasing guest demands, hotels across France are under pressure to evolve. At FHT Paris 2025, industry leaders gathered to explore how Digital Transformation is transforming hospitality operations, moving beyond buzzwords and into real-world impact.
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.
Through their innovative concepts and strategic growth powered by Mews, this Swiss hotel brand is reimagining the hospitality experience for modern travelers.
... 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 Circus Hotel faced several challenges in managing its sales distribution. The first issue stemmed from working with a previous partner who duplicated their website to create campaigns, which made it difficult to maintain effective control over channel management. This lack of transparency caused significant challenges for both customers and employees.
Silken Hotels faced several challenges in their quest to strengthen their position in the competitive hospitality industry. Limited visibility on Global Distribution Systems (GDS) hindered their ability to capture a broader audience, while a smaller share of corporate clients restricted their revenue diversification. Insufficient participation in corporate RFPs further limited opportunities to secure global partnerships. Additionally, a lack of strong brand recognition among travel agents, consortia, and corporate travel planners posed obstacles to expanding their market presence. Inefficient rate management through their Central Reservation System (CRS) also made it difficult to align pricing strategies with market demands, underscoring the need for strategic adjustments to achieve sustained growth.
A lot of hoteliers today will feel like they are treading water, grasping for clarity over what kind of impact AI agents will ultimately have on their businesses.
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.
The term "robot" comes from the Czech word robota, meaning forced labor or drudgery. Introduced by Karel Čapek in his 1920 play R.U.R. and inspired by his brother Josef, the word encapsulated a grim vision of mechanized subjugation. Ironically, a century later, robots have flipped the script: they're no longer merely laborers but liberators, reshaping how industries—from logistics to hospitality—operate.
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.
To deliver personalized experiences and boost direct bookings, hotels must first build a solid data foundation through a Central Guest Profile (CGP). Without clean, unified data, AI-driven tools underperform. Fixing data issues before adopting advanced solutions enables hotels to unlock AI"s full potential, enhance loyalty, and outpace OTAs.
The SSE Arena, Belfast, is a beacon of success, a venue that has delivered sensible, simple innovation consistently since it first opened in 2000. With a focus on fan experience, delivering an atmosphere that engages and entertains, Northern Ireland’s biggest live events venue has gone from strength to strength with technology at the core of that drive.
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.
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.
Mews, the industry-leading hospitality cloud, now powers over 1,000 properties across France. The milestone makes France the country with the highest number of Mews customers, highlighting the nation’s appetite for digital transformation and modern hotel management software.
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.
Inflation has been inescapable during the past 12 months, and the hotel industry has been one of the worst affected sectors in the UK. Recent data has shown that the average price of a night in a hotel has gone up by as much as 12.1% in the past year, with further price rises predicted. Against the backdrop of the cost-of-living crisis, which is already squeezing consumers on all fronts, right now hotel managers are faced with the challenge of convincing people to book a stay at their hotel at an increased cost.
The hospitality industry has undergone significant changes, yet it has struggled to update its metrics to reflect impactful shifts, such as those related to the future of work. Traditional KPIs, like Revenue per Available Room (RevPAR), which I have used during my time with brands like Marriott and Hilton and learned about at Hotelschool, have not evolved to meet new industry demands. They are now being replaced with more comprehensive metrics that allow deeper insights into a hotel's performance. Among the newer metrics are RevPAM (revenue per available square meter), GAC (guest acquisition cost), and LTV (guest lifetime value). These metrics, made possible through AI-driven live data connections, are what the new-age hotelier taps into to maximize operational efficiency and revenue optimization.