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Opinion Articles

HN Original
Opinion Article

The Pizza Anxiety of Gen Z and the Future of Humanless Hospitality

I hate to generalize about generations (yup, pun intended!), yet it is difficult to ignore that a crack has opened within the old catechism of hospitality, that choreography of handshakes and ritualized greetings passed from Jedi to padawan as if it carried the weight of eternal midichlorian truth (sorry, I spent the weekend in Disneyland Paris with my son, so my cultural references are slightly skewed), but which today feels less like continuity than the fading echo of a ritual whose spell has been (partially) broken.

By Simone Puorto, Head of Emerging Trends and Strategic Innovation, Hospitality Net
HN Original
Opinion Article

As Colossus Falls, So Falls the Brand

For centuries, Colossus has embodied the fragility of empires erected upon symbols, those immense figures that appear eternal until a single fracture reveals their emptiness. Nero’s bronze giant once loomed beside the Flavian Amphitheater, so imposing that its shadow gave the building its very name, the Colosseum. In time, the statue was dismantled, its metal melted, its memory fading into whispers. The prophecy that tied its fall to the fall of Rome became less prediction than retrospective allegory, a myth read backwards onto ruins. The statue was gone, the empire decayed, and people saw in one absence the mirror of the other (and sorry for the history lesson but My “Roman Empire” is THE ACTUAL Roman Empire…).

By Simone Puorto, Head of Emerging Trends and Strategic Innovation, Hospitality Net
Opinion Article

4 tips to using AI and not creating slop

We’re starting to drown in AI slop: LinkedIn posts and articles that are entirely AI-conceived (and possibly executed). They look like content, but they’re really just a collection of bland, recycled statements with no insights and no opinions. When I finish reading I realize I’ve learned… nothing, to be precise, agreeable nothing.

Martin Soler
By Martin Soler, Partner, Soler & Associates
Opinion Article

Is WhatsApp for Hotel Guest Communication Worth It?

WhatsApp is a valuable guest communication tool for hotels looking to connect with guests across different journey stages. It’s best used for casual, timely messages and works alongside email and SMS. In this guide, you’ll find use cases, pricing details, privacy considerations, and what to expect when implementing WhatsApp at your hotel.

Jamie McBride
By Jamie McBride, Head of Marketing, Bookboost
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Opinion Article

If Hotel Website Sales Only Grow When You Run Ads, Something’s Missing

Many hotel managers today aim to shift more bookings to their website — and rightly so. But in practice, website sales often come in short-lived spikes, driven almost entirely by paid campaigns. When ads are the only traffic source, the website becomes a temporary landing page, not a stable sales channel. And while the numbers might look good in the moment, the ROI rarely holds over time.

Anna Belash
By Anna Belash, Chief Marketing Officer, Exely
Opinion Article

Crafting Magical Events at the Rosewood Baha Mar with Tekeyo Bodie

Each of us remembers that one event we attended where every detail was flawlessly executed and the setting was so perfect that, in hindsight, the only word that describe it all is ‘magical’. Behind the scenes, as anyone working in hospitality knows, the crafting of a lifelong memory for attendees requires meticulous planning that starts months, or even years, ahead of the big day or multi-day conference.

Larry MogelonskyAdam Mogelonsky
By Larry Mogelonsky and Adam Mogelonsky
Nassau, Bahamas
Opinion Article

Reviews and the promise of AI SEO ranking

We’re still in the early days of figuring out how generative AI, LLMs, and search engines are index hotels. Everyone has their theories, and I’m sure thousands of actual SEO experts are running experiments as we speak. But one area where I’m increasingly convinced we’ll see a seismic shift is in reviews. I wrote about this some months ago, but with Google adding review summaries I think it bears repeating.

Martin Soler
By Martin Soler, Partner, Soler & Associates
HN Original
Opinion Article

How Much Should Hoteliers Be Spending on Marketing?

With the 2026 budgeting season around the corner, the question of marketing investment has once again become front and centre. In a recent Hospitality Net Viewpoint, Max Starkov set the stage by highlighting a striking imbalance: while U.S. hotels typically spend less than 2.5% of room revenue on marketing (including payroll), OTAs invest billions — Expedia alone allocated 54% of its 2024 revenue, or $6.9 billion, to marketing. Collectively, major OTAs spent $17.8 billion in a single year, dwarfing the combined marketing budgets of hoteliers worldwide.

By Henri Roelings, Founder, Hospitality Net