HN Originals

Beyond the Buzzword - How Oracle Hospitality is Using AI to Solve Real Problems

AI dominates hospitality discussions, but Oracle Hospitality's Tanya Pratt is cutting through the noise, focusing on AI's real business impact—enhancing efficiency, reducing friction, and empowering frontline staff. At ITB, Pratt shared Oracle's practical AI applications, including content automation, real-time support via conversational AI, and machine learning-driven revenue optimization.

Shiji's Hospitality Tech Evolution - Modular, Flexible, and Built for Real-World Operations

The hospitality industry thrives on evolution, and Shiji is embracing that change with a modular, service-oriented approach to hotel technology. At ITB, Kevin King, CEO of Shiji International, shared how the company has shifted away from enterprise-heavy, all-in-one models to offer flexible solutions that let hotels choose the tools they need—without unnecessary complexity.

Redefining Hospitality with AI, Automation, and a Holistic Tech Ecosystem

Mews isn’t just a PMS (Property Management System)—it’s a hospitality cloud that is transforming the way hotels operate, enhance guest experiences, and optimize revenue. With a bold vision for the future, CEO Matt Welle shares how Mews is reshaping hotel technology by integrating AI, automation, and dynamic pricing into every aspect of hospitality management.

The Future of Revenue Management - Moving Beyond Room Rates

The hospitality industry has long been fixated on room rates as the primary driver of revenue. But Thomas Landen, CMO at RoomPriceGenie, believes it's time to rethink revenue management as part of a broader commercial strategy. Speaking at ITB Berlin, Landen challenged the traditional, siloed approach and emphasized the need for hotels to integrate pricing with marketing, upsells, and dynamic asset utilization.

ITB Rewind: How AI is Shaping the Future of Hospitality

At this year’s ITB, Hospitality Net took to the show floor to ask a big question as part of the Hospitality Net World Panel Viewpoint: What is the single biggest impact AI will have on hospitality? We gathered insights from 20 industry leaders who shared their thoughts on how AI is transforming guest experiences, revenue management, operations, and the very fabric of hospitality itself.

How to overcome revenue managers’ aversion to the direct online channel?

Recently, a revenue manager reacted to my LinkedIn post about independent hoteliers’ overdependence on the OTAs by stating Even with the best intentions, money and talent, there's no way independents can beat the big OTA's in search and make money. There's no scheme where they can get a positive ROI on investing search. Google has been trying to break up the OTA monopoly on search for years, but never succeeded.

Is social media a viable distribution channel in hospitality?

According to Skift’s State of Travel 2024, social media is the preferred online source for trip planning for 32% of travelers, ahead of official sites, Google, review sites, travel influencers, offline sources like friends and family, etc. Stelico Consulting Group survey found out that 76% of US luxury travelers selected a hotel brand, cruise line, or airline based on social media.

David vs Goliath or how independents can beat the OTAs at their own marketing game

In 2024 Expedia spent on marketing $6.8 billion, which represents 49.6% of revenue, while Booking Holdings spent $7.3 billion which was 31% of revenue. These two mega OTAs spent on marketing a total of $14.1 billion. In total, last year the two mega OTAs spent on marketing $14.1 billion

I told you so…but who would listen?

Last year in February I published an article “The law of unintended - or is it intended? - consequences coming to a restaurant near you,” in which I argued that the new California law taking effect in April 2024, requiring fast-food chain restaurants to start paying a minimum of $20 an hour ($41,760 a year plus benefits), would affect adversely both consumers and restaurateurs alike: