News - Hospitality Net

Yesterday

Hilton Says Human Leadership Beats AI for Engagement, IHG Launches ChatGPT Booking, China T&T Heads for $3.5T

Thursday closed the week with three stories that pull in different directions: Hilton's workplace research found that human-centred leadership outranks technology and perks as a driver of staff engagement, IHG launched a ChatGPT app across 7,000+ hotels, and WTTC confirmed China's travel and tourism sector is on course to become the world's largest by 2036. A fourth EHL HumanX interview and a Paris social enterprise story rounded out a strong week of HN originals.

Hospitality Net

Press Release Development

Yesterday

Lotte Hotels & Resorts and Highgate Announce Strategic Partnership Across the Americas and Asia

Highgate will take over management of the 909-room Lotte New York Palace Hotel in June 2026, anchoring a broader partnership covering hotel operations, global distribution, AI technology, and talent exchange across the Americas and Asia.

Highgate Hotels, L.P. and LOTTE Hotels & Resorts

New York, United States

Opinion Article Sales & Marketing

Yesterday

Tell the Arrival Story: Help Guests Picture Their First Impression

Practical guide for branded hotel teams on using organic social media to document the arrival experience with simple mobile video content, helping future guests visualize their stay before booking.

By DJ Vallauri, Founder & CEO, Lodging Interactive

Press Release Development

Yesterday

Remington Hospitality Expands Managed Portfolio with New Belize Resort

Remington Hospitality takes over management of Aruna Resort Villas in Ambergris Caye, Belize, as part of its strategy to grow its independent and boutique portfolio across the CALA region.

Remington

Ambergris Caye, Belize

Press Release Human Resources

Yesterday

Hilton Unveils New Workplace Research Showing That Even as AI Is Reshaping Work, the Real Advantage Is Human

Hilton's 2026 Trends Report, drawing on Ipsos and Morning Consult surveys of 2,000+ U.S. workers, finds human-centered leadership, mentorship, and purpose outrank perks and technology as drivers of engagement and retention.

Hilton

United States

Opinion Article Operations & Strategy

Yesterday

Swapping lobby lines for revenue climbs: fixing the front desk

Mews CEO Matt Welle outlines how cloud-native PMS, mobile housekeeping apps, online check-in, and lobby kiosks can eliminate front desk queues while adding measurable ancillary revenue.

By Tom Brown, Principal Copywriter, Mews

HN TV

Interview Human Resources

Yesterday

When Two Worn-Out Systems Meet: Maria Haggo on the Neuroscience of Hospitality

Maria Haggo, brain health strategist and ex-hotelier, argues that staff burnout and dysregulated nervous systems directly undermine guest experience, and that psychological safety is a practical fix.

Maria Haggo in conversation with Simone Puorto

Lausanne, Switzerland

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Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals (HFTP)

Ad #1 Hotel PMS

See why hotels are switching to Mews

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Mews

Opinion Article Finance

Yesterday

Independent Hotels Face a Revenue Management Paradox

Independent hotels often can't afford pricing errors, and modern RMS platforms now cost a fraction of enterprise pricing, with setup fees of $7K-$10K and interfaces designed for small, non-specialist teams.

By Samuel Johnson, Head of Operations, LodgIQ™

Press Release Development

Yesterday

Meliá Restructures Its Operations in Cuba Following Risk Assessment and Current Context Review

Meliá exits management and brand licensing for 15 Cuban hotels, citing deteriorating geopolitical, legal, and energy conditions, with most properties already non-operational.

Melia

Cuba

Opinion Article Operations & Strategy

Yesterday

The hotel with no staff gave me better hospitality. Here’s why that matters.

Drawing on interviews with 38 leaders across 13 countries, the author argues hotels must build a hospitality strategy first and use technology to enable it, not the reverse.

By Jessica Gillingham, Founder and CEO of Abode Worldwide and a co-host of Pillow Talk Sessions Podcast, Abode Worldwide

Podcast Technology

Yesterday

How to win direct bookings with AI search

Starwood Hotels' VP of Digital Strategy discusses how hotels can optimize for AI-driven search discovery, build data foundations as the source of truth for LLMs, and convert AI recommendations into direct bookings.

Karen Stephens, Chief Marketing Officer, Revinate, Inc.

Opinion Article General Management

Yesterday

The Three Most Important Customer Service Suggestions I Tell Every CEO

Three universal CX principles for leaders: treat service as a company-wide philosophy, train all staff on their role in the experience, and actively map and manage every customer touchpoint.

By Shep Hyken, Customer Service and Experience Expert, Keynote Speaker and Bestselling Author, Shepard Presentations, LLC.

Press Release General Management

Yesterday

WTTC Announces the Global Priorities Approved by its Executive Council to Unlock Growth and Drive Transformation in Travel & Tourism Forward

WTTC's Executive Council approved eight strategic priorities covering digital journeys, sustainability, AI, connectivity, and workforce, shaped by 200+ CEO interviews.

WTTC

Egypt

Press Release Markets & Performance

Yesterday

The Caribbean Hotel & Tourism Association (CHTA) Calls for a New, Broader Framework to Measure the True Value of Caribbean Tourism

CHTA proposes a three-part measurement framework tracking economic retention, workforce investment, and environmental impact to better capture tourism's true value to Caribbean economies.

CHTA

Barbados

Ad #1 Hotel PMS

See why hotels are switching to Mews

Revenue up. Manual work down. Hotels using Mews see 35% higher RevPAR and 45% more upsells. Book a free demo.

Mews

Press Release Operations & Strategy

Yesterday

The Hospitality Show Opens Registration for Industry Event Focused on Hotel Operations and Performance Optimization

The Hospitality Show, produced by Questex and AHLA, returns November 2–4, 2026 at Miami Beach Convention Center with speakers from Hilton, Accor, and Davidson Hospitality Group.

AH&LA

Miami Beach, United States

Press Release Technology

Yesterday

Leonardo Hotels digitalises offer processes in Convention Sales

Leonardo Hotels Central Europe rolled out the Proposales cloud quotation tool across all properties in early 2026, cutting offer processing time by 50% and lifting booking rates by 12%.

Leonardo Hotels and Proposales™

Germany

Press Release Development

Yesterday

Meliá strengthens its commitment to Argentina with two new hotels in Mendoza, one of South America’s most fascinating destinations

Meliá signs two new hotels in Mendoza, Argentina, opening 2028: a 140-room urban property and a 110-room wine-country resort in Valle de Uco, both owned by Grupo Almarena.

Melia

Argentina

Press Release Technology

Yesterday

IHG Hotels & Resorts Advances Conversational AI Search Capabilities

IHG launched a ChatGPT app enabling search across 7,000+ hotels with real-time pricing and availability, and will add conversational AI search to IHG.com and its One Rewards app.

IHG

Press Release Development

Yesterday

Davidson Hospitality Group Selected to Manage Parrot Key Hotel & Villas

Davidson Hospitality Group takes over operations at the 148-room Parrot Key Hotel & Villas in Key West, adding to its existing five-property Florida Keys portfolio, with a summer renovation planned.

Davidson

Key West, United States

Press Release Markets & Performance

Yesterday

China and its leading performance in Travel & Tourism: Poised to Become the World’s Leading Economy in the Sector

WTTC's 2026 EIR data shows China's T&T sector grew 9.9% to $1.8 trillion in 2025, with 68M+ international arrivals and a projected doubling to $3.5 trillion by 2036.

WTTC

China

Markets & Performance Yesterday

Connected, optimistic, human: a snapshot of hospitality's future from 750 hoteliers at Mews Unfold

A live poll of 750+ hoteliers at Mews Unfold 2026 found 80% excited about new technology, with broader Mews research showing 92% optimistic about hospitality's future.

Mews

Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Sustainability Yesterday

HBX Group strengthens inclusive travel standards with Queer Destinations Committed distinction

HBX Group earned the Queer Destinations Committed distinction after rolling out an LGBTQ+ inclusion training programme with nearly 90% staff participation, building on its 2025 alliance with Queer Destinations.

HBX Group

Technology Yesterday

CHMWarnick Expands Proph+IT Platform with New Performance Analytics and Select-Service Capabilities

CHMWarnick's Proph+IT platform gains a Performance Quadrants Dashboard for portfolio-wide visualization and a new Select module for select-service assets, covering 22,000 rooms and $12B in managed value.

CHMWarnick

Technology Yesterday

Actabl Hires Global Hotel Engineering Leader as SVP of AI Asset Management

Actabl appoints Rob Bahl, former Marriott Global VP of Engineering, as SVP of AI Asset Management to lead AI-driven asset and operational strategy across its platform.

Actabl

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