Pernod Ricard's Global Brand Homes Director Laura Sileo Pavat outlines how the spirits giant welcomes 1 million visitors annually across distilleries and châteaux, using five key elements to maintain personal guest connections at scale.
Kelly Ommundsen of the World Economic Forum argues hospitality tech is over-designed for confident users, under-regulated, and too often deployed without asking what problem it actually solves.
Thursday brought a landmark ownership change at Hospitality Net, Marriott's milestone 10,000th property opening, and a sharp challenge on why most hotels remain invisible to AI-powered travel discovery. A World Panel viewpoint on the future of enterprise PMS and a strong read on distribution's hidden costs rounded out a deal-heavy day.
Mirko Lalli warns that 80% of AI travel suggestions come from OTAs, leaving most hotels invisible, and argues that 70% of the fix is content strategy, not technology.
EHL student and Young Hospitality Summit president Ilona Guérin argues Gen Z hoteliers are driven and passionate, but warns formalising "generation translator" roles would widen, not bridge, the gap.
Wednesday brought a sharp argument that hotels are staging AI for appearances rather than results, strong April U.S. performance data, and booking signals showing domestic travel demand surging well ahead of summer. A wave of property openings and a critical read on Booking.com's partner pitch rounded out a content-heavy day.
EHL's Dr Sowon Kim uses AI-powered role-play avatars to train hospitality leaders in high-stakes interpersonal skills, and discusses loneliness, empathy, and her Women in Leadership programme.
Dr. Adrienne Boissy draws on healthcare's measurable approach to empathy, burnout, and system design to challenge hospitality leaders to move beyond aspiration and build human connection into operations.
Tuesday brought a World Panel question that lands perfectly one week before HITEC: will AI displace established hospitality technology by 2030? Lighthouse answered with a product launch, releasing Ernest, an AI teammate built on hotel-specific data. WTTC warned that EES border delays of three hours could put 41 million European arrivals and $45 billion in spending at risk. Three HN originals rounded out a strong day.
HotellerieSuisse director Christian Hürlimann draws on 20 years overseeing 200 catering outlets to argue that empowering middle managers, using AI for back-of-house efficiency, and trusting staff to resolve guest issues are the keys to better hotel leadership.
TheLifeCo's Aslihan Ozgur outlines A'ila Developments, a $1B+ master-planned longevity village in St. Lucia spanning three resorts, 500 residences, and a physician-led detox program with a 65% repeat visit rate.
EHL student Billy Turnbull argues Gen Z hotel workers aren't uncommitted, but that outdated behind-the-scenes tech and grueling shift cultures are the real drivers of early attrition.
Monday opened with the most consequential distribution story of the week: Booking Holdings and Airbnb are each funding separate AI travel ventures as hedges, raising the prospect that hotels will soon rent visibility from the same parent that runs both the OTA and the assistant. Two HN interviews on crisis leadership and regenerative hospitality set the tone for a week that keeps asking what it means to lead well.
Kempinski veteran Bernold Schroeder shares lessons from leading through Covid and multiple Asian crises, including the value of helicopter thinking, overcommunication, and empathy over technical brilliance.
Dr. Aradhana Khowala, CEO of Aptamind Partners, challenges the hospitality industry to move beyond sustainability theatre, arguing regeneration requires measurable outcomes, community benefit, and a systemic redesign, not new vocabulary.
Friday closed a strong week with U.S. hotel performance accelerating: RevPAR grew 6.5% in the week ending May 30, led by Las Vegas concert demand. GBTA confirmed U.S. business travel reached a record $538.5 billion in 2024. And hospitality.today argued that SiteMinder's move into the Mews operating system is a structural bet on becoming infrastructure, not an application.
Explora Journeys President Anna Nash discusses reframing ocean travel as a floating luxury hotel experience, with 30% first-time sailors and a fleet growing to six ships by 2028.
EHL Next CEO Andrea Monti argues hospitality over-relies on ADR and RevPAR, calls for impact metrics covering workforce and community value, and challenges the industry to prove AI actually frees staff time.
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.
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.