STLY: The Reporting Zombie
It haunts your every KPI, even though it has already been buried, deep in your archives: STLY, same time last year.
By Manuel Kuckenberger, Hospitality systems consultant, Manuel Kuckenberger e.U.
Opinion Articles
Forecasts are Falling: It’s Time to Look Inward and Refine Your 2026 Plan
The final U.S. hotel performance forecast of 2025 is in – and it’s not the news many hoped for. According to the latest from CoStar and Tourism Economics, both 2025 and 2026 projections have again been downgraded across occupancy, ADR, and RevPAR, signaling a tougher environment ahead.
By Rob Lawrence, CEO, Otelier
The Great Hotel Sales Divide: System-First or Proposal-First — Which One Are You?
In hotel groups and event sales, timing is everything. The moment a lead comes in, whether from a meeting planner’s RFP, a trade show connection, or a casual inquiry, the clock starts ticking. The speed, accuracy, and professionalism of the initial response can make the difference between securing the booking or losing it to a competitor.
By Mike Pavicich, Director, Global Sales, SalesAndCatering.com, LLC
How AI-Powered Personalisation Is Redefining Hotel Sales in 2025
A few years ago, the best hotel salespeople had one superpower: they could read their guests.
By Muhammad Tanveer, Author - The Sales Leadership Brief (Linkedin Newsletter), The Sales Leadership Brief
We fixed the transient problem. Now it’s time to fix group.
Hoteliers have mastered the art of direct bookings; sophisticated marketing automation, optimized booking engines, and data-driven website design have helped shift share away from OTAs and reclaim control over the guest relationship.
By Thomas McDermott, CMO, Tambourine
Branded Hotel’s Contactless Check-In: Who has the better technology?
Since we here at Cogwheel Marketing are all about sharing our knowledge with others, we did a little research on which brand between Hilton, Marriott, and IHG has the best contactless opportunities for guests.
By Holly Hollingsworth, Senior Digital Marketing Manager, Cogwheel Marketing & Analytics
Overcoming the pre-arrival noise: Tips to stand out among other hotels
Guests are more distracted than ever. Inboxes are filled with hundreds of emails and whatever message your property is sending to them, it can be easily ignored.
By Jamie McBride, Head of Marketing, Bookboost
From Data Overload to Commercial Clarity: Why Hotels Need Smarter Decision Intelligence
Hotel revenue teams have access to more data than ever before — yet decision-making has never been harder.
By Mayank Rastogi, Senior Vice President & GM, RateGain, RateGain
Same product, same pitch: How to stand out when everyone is selling the same thing
Picture this: You’re standing on the beach in Zanzibar - oh yes, it is another lessons of those. The sun’s out. The sea’s calm. And within seconds, you’re surrounded AND ... everyone selling the same thing.
By Fabian Bartnick, Founder, Infinito
Ten Reasons Why Customers Hate Calling You for Help
I have good news. Calling customer support is getting better, even if you don’t notice it yet. Part of the reason you might think it’s not improving is that past bad experiences have left such a “metaphorical scar” that you avoid making the call for many reasons I’ll share in just a moment.
By Shep Hyken, Customer Service and Experience Expert, Keynote Speaker and Bestselling Author, Shepard Presentations, LLC.
Stand Out or Fade Away: Rethinking Hotel Search and Distribution in the Agentic Era
Recently, I was planning a vacation to Portugal. Not having the time necessary to sift through endless options and reviews, I found myself looking to my travel companions Chat GPT and Perplexity to do some of the research and help me build just the right experience that allowed my wife and I to focus on the experiences that mattered to us.
By Timothy Wiersma, Principal | Revenue Generation, Revenue Generation LLC
Volume Without Profit: The Strategic Mandate for Total Business Optimization (Beyond RevPAR)
The current industry dialogue confirms a harsh truth: a strong top-line no longer guarantees a healthy bottom line, and the painful truth is: Volume without profit is just activity. The era of RevPAR as a sole performance indicator is over. It has to be over, because if this is the only thing we are truly capable of optimizing today, the industry is structurally broken. The industry has been discussing this strategic migration for some time now, yet the tension between this ambition (talk/ideas) and the current systemic reality (action/capability) is the core structural challenge. The new scoreboard demands Total Profit Optimization (TPO), driven by metrics like GOPPAR. This is the goal of Total Profit Optimization Hospitality.
By Mark Fancourt, Co-Founder & Principal Consultant, TRAVHOTECH
The Hidden Logic to Room Assignment
Everyone in hospitality talks about pricing strategy, distribution mix, and guest experience. But ask who owns room assignment, and the room goes quiet.
By Manuel Kuckenberger, Hospitality systems consultant, Manuel Kuckenberger e.U.
The Rise of A2A: When AI Agents Start Talking to Each Other
In this article I described the relationship between Model Context Protocol (MCP) that helps AI systems access external data and A2A (Agent-to-Agent communication) that helps them talk to each other. This shorter article reflects my vision on the possible evolution of the A2A concept and how this affects our industry.
By Ira Vouk, Hospitality Tech and AI Consultant, Hospitality 2.0 Consulting
Human + Machine: The New Commercial Mindset for Hotel Sales Teams
I watched a Director of Sales break down last month.
By Muhammad Tanveer, Author - The Sales Leadership Brief (Linkedin Newsletter), The Sales Leadership Brief
10 Hotel Tech Predictions for 2026
The hospitality industry doesn’t need more buzzwords or metaverse-ready ideas. What matters is creating online experiences that put guests first and drive measurable results.
By Pedro Colaco, CEO, GuestCentric Systems
The Brand Name Myth
One of the most common conversations I have with founders is about brand names. What to call the company, how much meaning it should have, whether it needs to be clever, memorable, descriptive. I get it. I’ve been there myself, naming things is hard. But here’s the uncomfortable truth: the name itself doesn’t matter nearly as much as people think.
By Martin Soler, Partner, Soler & Associates
What Revenue Management REALLY is ...
It’s not selling the right product to the right person at the right time at the right price.
By Fabian Bartnick, Founder, Infinito
A Lesson On How to Hire the Right Person From the Richest Man in the World
The old saying in business, when it comes to hiring people, is this: Hire for attitude, train for skill.
By Shep Hyken, Customer Service and Experience Expert, Keynote Speaker and Bestselling Author, Shepard Presentations, LLC.
Digital Transformation & Operations: The Imperative of Hospitality Unified Selling
When we hear the term Digital Transformation, it can be daunting and confronting. Yet another new term that can make us feel inadequate or that we are in some way falling behind. Digital Transformation is really a term that describes operational transformation. It means moving your business processes from manual or behind-the-scenes activities to technology-enabled processes for both staff and the customer. Ultimately, it’s all about how you operate your hospitality operations.
By Mark Fancourt, Co-Founder & Principal Consultant, TRAVHOTECH