BLLA Declares Hospitality Has Entered the Age of Wonder
BLLA has themed its 17th Boutique Hotel Owners Conference around the "Age of Wonder," scheduled for October 19-20 at Westlake Village Inn in Southern California.
News
From Search Box to Travel Advisor: IHG’s Kim Smith on the Next Phase of AI Booking
IHG's SVP of Digital Direct Channels explains the Google-powered conversational search beta on IHG.com, its personalization roadmap, and how hotels must restructure content to remain discoverable in an AI-driven booking era.
IHG's Kim Smith on How Hotels Must Rebuild Content for AI, ChatGPT Ads Launch Across Europe Next Week, Stripe's $7B OpenRouter Buy Creates AI Cost Opacity
Wednesday brought IHG's SVP of Digital Direct Channels on why hotels must restructure content for AI-driven discovery and what Google-powered conversational search on IHG.com is already showing, hospitality.today's warning that ChatGPT Ads launch across 31 European countries next week but hotels can't buy them directly yet, and Pertlink on how Stripe's reported $7B acquisition of OpenRouter creates a vertically integrated AI billing stack that makes model routing costs opaque. Birmingham's 62.5% event-demand surge, Homo Hackabilis on social engineering attacks, and eight property announcements rounded out the session.
Hotels don't need more data, they need direction
Cendyn argues hotels are drowning in data but lack direction, and positions AI-enabled actionable intelligence as the shift from reporting to decision support across its CRM, Knowland, and Wayfinder products.
By Nicola Graham, Chief Marketing Officer, Cendyn™
Why the first 10 seconds make or break a guest’s stay
Malcolm Hotel GM Andrew Shepherd shares how reading body language in the first 10 seconds, leveraging guest data, and investing in 154 staff housing units drives exceptional guest experiences.
Karen Stephens in conversation with Dylan Cole
PATA Announces New Executive Board Members
PATA has expanded its Executive Board with five new members from Hawaii, Singapore, Maldives, Saudi Arabia, and Nepal, representing both public tourism bodies and private travel companies.
We’re Not Happy Until You’re Not Happy – Revisited
Customers build their opinion of a brand through cumulative service interactions, not slogans, making every touchpoint a de facto brand promise that marketing alone cannot override.
By Shep Hyken, Customer Service and Experience Expert, Keynote Speaker and Bestselling Author, Shepard Presentations, LLC.
Hotel Cross-Selling Strategy: Why Better Data Comes First
A podcast-based reflection on hotel cross-selling argues that data quality and guest qualification matter more than offer volume, with guest profiles and selective automation enabling more meaningful interactions.
Pablo Torres in conversation with Florencia Cueto Pedrotti
Homo Hackabilis: Why Hack a Server When You Can Just Call a Human?
A hospitality consultant recounts four near-identical cyberattacks on clients, all exploiting staff via phone-based impersonation rather than technical exploits.
Drift off dreaming of brekkie: Holiday Inn Express launches the world's first Breakfast Pillow in Australia
Holiday Inn Express Australia launches a limited-edition pillow with built-in speakers playing breakfast-inspired white noise tracks, available at all ANZ properties from August to November 2026.
Davidson Hospitality Group Debuts GM Edge Program
Davidson Hospitality Group's GM Edge program targets high-performing leaders across its portfolio for structured development in operations, financial management, and people culture.
The Luxury Collection Unveils Expeditions, A New Chapter in Cultural Discovery
The Luxury Collection launches 10 curated journeys across North America, Europe, Asia, and the Caribbean, positioning its hotels as gateways to immersive cultural, culinary, and ecological experiences.
ChatGPT starts selling ads in Europe next week, but hotels can't buy them directly yet
OpenAI's ChatGPT Ads launch across 31 European countries next week, but hotel advertisers must go through agency partners until self-serve access opens, and ads appear below AI responses without influencing them.
By Markus Busch, Editor/Publisher, hospitality.today
Bangkok named world’s best workcation city for 2026 in IWG’s annual Work from Anywhere Index; Singapore and Kuala Lumpur rank among Asia’s top cities as flexible working reshapes travel and work
IWG's 2026 Work from Anywhere Index ranks Bangkok first globally, with Singapore (17th) and Kuala Lumpur (32nd) also featured, as 48% of workers plan to extend trips by working remotely.
Fusion Hotel Group Announces Integration of Ayola and Odua Brands from Topotels Hotels & Resorts
Fusion Hotel Group integrates Topotels' seven Indonesian midscale properties under the Ayola and Odua brands, expanding its footprint across Jakarta, Bandung, and Surabaya.
Gulf Hotels Group Expands its Management Portfolio in Kenya
Gulf Hotels Group signs an MOU with Silva Gigiri Ltd to manage a USD 30M upper-upscale hotel and branded residence in Nairobi's diplomatic district, targeting a 2028 soft opening.
Webinar: How to Build a Hotel Budget Like a Leader
A free webinar offering hoteliers a step-by-step budgeting framework to build, understand, and defend hotel budgets to ownership and corporate stakeholders.
Tollbooths on the Token Highway
Stripe's reported $7B acquisition of OpenRouter, combined with its earlier Metronome buy, creates a vertically integrated AI billing stack that makes model routing costs opaque to operators and demands new cost-tracking disciplines for hospitality.
By Terence Ronson, Founder & Managing Director, Pertlink Limited
An Abacus, a One-Cent Note, and Fifty Years of Memory
Terence Ronson reflects on 50-year-old hotel memorabilia from Hong Kong, including a branded one-cent note and an abacus, in a memoir excerpt from The Lobby Boys.
Chat, Workflow, Agent or Orchestration: What Does Your Hotel Actually Need?
A practical framework for hotel leaders to distinguish between chat, workflow, agent, and orchestration AI modes, with a decision matrix to avoid over-buying autonomy for problems that are simply workflows.
By Darko Bosancic, SVP, Sirma Group Holding JSC