CADD Emirates director Jimmy Joseph outlines how UAE and KSA hotels are shifting from legacy, fragmented systems to integrated cloud platforms, with real-time data and AI reshaping operations and guest personalization.
A structured five-phase framework helps hotels assess data infrastructure, run shadow-mode pilots, and scale AI without overwhelming staff or wasting budget on simultaneous deployments.
KTN trainer argues that expressing genuine empathy before apologizing is the most effective yet most commonly skipped step in guest complaint resolution, with coaching key to breaking ingrained staff habits.
Ascott signed nine properties totalling 3,200+ units in Vietnam in 1H 2026, growing its country portfolio by over 30% to ~12,000 units across 42 properties in 14 cities.
A sharp editorial argues that regulatory wins against OTAs and platforms have delivered no meaningful revenue shift for hotels, and that direct guest relationships remain the only distribution asset that compounds.
AI travel agents could become the most powerful gatekeepers yet, deciding which hotels guests ever see, while hidden fees and labor reduction risks threaten luxury service quality.
Explores how AI can address kitchen bottlenecks in restaurants without replacing human staff, balancing automation with the human element central to hospitality.
Sotheby's International Realty opens its 18th Asia office in Ho Chi Minh City, targeting Vietnam's growing luxury residential market amid rising domestic wealth and international investor interest.
Beckons launches Tomorrow Beckons, a portfolio-wide regenerative travel program linking luxury lodges in Australia, New Zealand, Chile and Canada to local conservation and community partners, funded partly by a 1% voluntary guest contribution.
Accor reports H1 2026 RevPAR up 2.2% (4.6% ex-Middle East), recurring EBITDA up 6.5% to €563M, and free cash flow up 42%, with a €1,260-1,285M full-year EBITDA outlook.
A short opinion piece argues that hotel turnarounds succeed not through refurbishment but through strategic clarity, using Kings Court Hotel's community-focused repositioning as a practical example.
EEA and PURE AALTO launch the Hospitality Engineering Forum to connect hotel owners, investors and engineers on building performance, with HVAC cited as consuming 40–60% of hotel energy.
Hilton signed three lifestyle properties in Phuket, Chiang Mai, and the Maldives, advancing its goal of surpassing 250 luxury and lifestyle properties across Asia Pacific.
Apple's shift to hardware leasing via Klarna mirrors the CapEx-to-OpEx transition hospitality tech has pushed for years, with direct implications for device fleets, FF&E reserves, and guest wallet share.
AXIS Architecture + Design completed a centennial renovation of the 1926 Hotel Viking in Newport, RI, restoring historic Gilded Age character while adding modern luxury elements across public spaces, exterior, and courtyard.
A 50-year hotel consultant breaks down the 133 provisions owners should negotiate in a management contract, arguing the base fee is the least impactful term while buyout rights, revenue definitions, and vendor rebates cause far greater financial damage.
Radisson's nano-creator platform now spans 400+ hotels in 64 countries, claiming 22x higher conversion than macro-influencers and winning multiple industry awards since launch.
The AHLA Foundation and Hotels Canada formalized a cross-border MOU to align anti-trafficking programs, expand employee training, and grow the NRFT Advisory Council with new appointments from Red Roof and Accor.
Wednesday closed July with IHG launching AI conversational search in beta across its 7,000-plus hotels with agentic booking features planned next, WTTC's seven principles redefining destination success around resident wellbeing rather than visitor volumes, and Lodging Econometrics reporting Canada's hotel construction pipeline at an all-time record of 345 projects. Budapest's 15% RevPAR surge, Booking.com's APAC happiness index, and openings from Cincinnati to Majorca rounded out the session.
Valor Hospitality takes over management of 8 Mississippi hotels (685 rooms) for Bellamare Development, becoming the preferred operating partner for Bellamare's full-service hospitality projects across the Americas.