Is this the end for the magnetic stripe?
As he slipped the key card into the reader on his hotel room door and tried the handle - to no avail - he realised what he had done.
External Articles
Former Nazi bunker turned into hotel and leisure complex in Germany
At 58 meters tall - just a little taller than the Leaning Tower of Pisa, but with considerably more heft - the St. Pauli bunker in Hamburg, Germany, has dominated the city skyline for just over 80 years.
Safe Hotels Act: A public safety measure or blow to NYC’s hospitality industry?
The New York hotel industry is at odds with the NYC Council over a new public safety and worker protection bill that critics say could possibly kill jobs and throw the Big Apple’s tourism economy into turmoil.
Is there untapped potential in hospitality subscriptions?
At first glance, a travel subscription seems like a consumer dream - unlimited travel, discounted travel or travel perks? Where’s the sign-up sheet?
Hospitality workers' union endorses Harris, dismissing Trump's pledge on tips
The hospitality workers' union UNITE HERE has endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris for president, a rejoinder to Republican Donald Trump's effort to woo restaurant and hotel workers by promising to make their tips tax-free.
Booking expects room nights growth to ease, shares fall
Online travel agency Booking Holdings (BKNG.O), opens new tab forecast lower room nights growth in the third quarter after beating analysts' estimates for second-quarter revenue and profit, sending its shares down 8% after the bell.The booking window shrank in the second quarter and is expected to shrink further in the third quarter, the parent of booking.com and priceline brands said on a post-earnings call.Booking window, an important metric in the travel industry, refers to the number of days between the reservation date and actual arrival. A higher booking window indicates strong occupancy and revenue guaranteed in advance. The company forecast third-quarter room night growth to be between 3% to 5%, compared to 7.1% growth in the second quarter and 14.9% growth in the year-ago quarter.
Selina Facing Insolvency, Looks For Buyers
Selina, a London-based hospitality company targeting millennial and Gen Z travelers looking to “stay, travel and work abroad indefinitely,” said Monday it “no longer has any reasonable prospects of avoiding an insolvency.”
Priorities for the European Tourism Sector
Last week marked the launch of the European Tourism Manifesto.
Global IT Outage Highlights Travel Industry's Need for Resilience
A flawed update by CrowdStrike on Friday caused a global IT outage, severely impacting the travel industry by grounding airports, canceling flights, and causing significant delays for travelers. The financial repercussions and damage to customer trust are profound, underscoring the inevitable nature of technological failures. While some segments of the industry, like modern aircraft, have embraced redundancy to prevent single points of failure, the broader industry must adopt similar resilience strategies. The integration of AI systems, particularly embedded AI, offers a path forward. AI can enhance predictive maintenance, autonomous response, continuous learning, and security, ensuring that travel systems are more robust and prepared for future disruptions. The industry must act swiftly to adopt these technologies, moving beyond recovery to a future where disruptions are anticipated and mitigated.
Hyatt To Acquire Cooler-Than-Cool Standard Hotels, Per Reports
Hyatt Hotels is in “advanced talks” to acquire upscale boutique hotel operator Standard International, Bloomberg reported Wednesday, hedging that discussions have been private and tentative and the deal “could fall through.” No financial details were disclosed.
Could Amazon Become A Major Player In Travel?
Amazon, which boasted record-breaking sales during this week's Prime Day event, made headlines for its travel-related offerings, something of a novelty for the company.
New York to roll out small shampoo bottle ban at hotels
New York state will be mandating hotels to forgo small bottles containing "hospitality care" products such as shampoo and lotions.
Christian Louboutin becomes shareholder of Experimental Group
The famous French shoe designer acquired a stake in Experimental Group ahead of the group’s expansion in the United States, confirming its interest in the hospitality sector.
Barcelona anti-tourism protesters fire water pistols at visitors
Protesters in Barcelona have sprayed visitors with water as part of a demonstration against mass tourism.
NYC hotels that converted into migrant shelters set to rake in over $1B in taxpayer funds
Hotels are set to easily rake in well over a billion dollars in taxpayer funds for turning their buildings into migrant shelters.
Hospitality ON met with Ricardo Losada Revol, Senior VP International Choice Hotels
Hospitality ON met with Ricardo Losada Revol, Senior Vice President International Choice Hotels, for about eight months already. While in Paris, the SVP explores this new adventure on the hospitality sector and the ambitions of the group, still perceived essentially as an American franchisor despite its presence in over 40 countries.
Inside The Luxury Hotel Yacht Race With Marriott Luxury President And Ritz-Carlton Yachts CEO
The ‘hotel yacht’ is one of the most competitive and exciting new areas of luxury travel. The Ritz-Carlton was the first to market with the launch of The Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection’s first yacht Evrima in 2022, with other leading luxury hospitality brands including Four Seasons and Aman quickly announcing plans to follow suit. Now, Ritz-Carlton is gearing up for the inaugural voyage of its second yacht Ilma in September 2024, a move that it hopes will further solidify its place as the leader of the luxury hotel yacht race.
Why The Luxury Hospitality Industry is Retail’s Latest Flex
While luxury fashion houses like Chanel and Dior have been operating seasonal popup stores for over a decade, the concept has, of late, evolved into more experiential partnerships with the hospitality industry.
Six NYC hotels are providing free helicopter airport transfers into the city — with one small catch
With New York's congestion pricing plan indefinitely delayed, traffic into Manhattan this summer is set to be gridlocked as usual.
Oracle Hospitality Exec on Its AI Plan in ‘Every Single Release’
Oracle Hospitality is gradually incorporating the latest AI advancements into its hotel technology products. However, once the momentum picks up, it will be unstoppable.