Some hoteliers are rightfully disoriented in the current myriad of hospitality technology vendors and solutions and are dreaming of a one-stop-shop tech solution that will cover all of their PMS, RMS, CRS, Channel Manager, CRM, CMS and DMS needs.
Though not completely unexpected (in April, the two companies openly admitted they were working together on a distribution platform), the Expedia Partner Solution/Marriott agreement created an unprecedented event in the industry.
The hotel industry must reduce its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions per room per year by 66% by 2030, and 90% by 2050 (see ITP, 2017). However, looking at 10 of the largest hotel companies, only one sets a goal that is in line with the science-based targets.
While attribute based shopping has been discussed for over 10 years, the level of noise about its application for the hotel industry has significantly increased in the last 18 months. After significant investment in new systems and technology, companies like IHG are tipping their toes in the ABS waters.
Hospitality HR experts estimate there are 100,000 open IT and digital marketing positions in hospitality in North America alone. This labor shortage and lack of adequate investments jeopardize the introduction of the latest technology applications and best practices, curbs new implementations and stifles technology innovations in the industry.
We all get to travel quite a bit in our industry... As a traveler, we get confronted with a wide range of technologies/platforms both during the booking/pre-arrival phase as well as the actual checkin and stay in a hotel room.
The Amazon / ClearTrip partnership is far from a revolution, but it's another tiny step Bezos' company took into the travel space. I think the time has come to address the elephant in the room: acquisitions.
In the first viewpoint of this panel, several experts weighed in that the Hospitality Industry does not properly invest in technology innovation. Apple spent about $15 billion in research last year alone… or 5.
Launched earlier in May, Google Trips puts merges flights, hotels, packages, home-rentals, car rentals, ridesharing, cruises, and experiences search in one single, übermensch ecosystem, combining the Google Trips app, Google Flights, and Google Hotels under one landing page.
Artificial intelligence is rapidly moving from the laboratory and into business and consumer applications. The result is a fundamental shift in how software is built, and what it's capable of doing. And while we're still a way off from the artificial general intelligence portrayed in the movies, artificial narrow intelligence is a reality that's already powering some of the most successful technology businesses today, including Amazon, Facebook, Google and Apple.
Hospitality Net's World Panel is a thought-leadership platform where hospitality-industry opinion leaders share insights, views, ideas and reactions on important issues and events currently affecting the hospitality business. Each panel is made up of a select group of experts, and industry leaders who, by invitation, contribute succinct commentary on viewpoints which are suggested by panel-champs.
