Protecting business travelers from AI scams is a bigger challenge cited by travel buyers outside the U.S. (36%) versus in the U.S. (14%). ... Business Travel AI: Automation or Transformation?
Cruising is rebounding, with growing interest among the most affluent: Interest in cruising among Top-1% travelers jumped from 37% in 2019 to 53% in 2025 – a market ultra-luxury entrants including Ritz-Carlton ... The Middle East is competing for "dream trip" mindshare among younger affluent travelers: Interest in the region among Top-1% travelers more than doubled from 6% in 2019 to 13% in 2025, with Dubai emerging
Growth rates are projected to rise further in 2027, but even the forecasted 1.4% increase in RevPAR would remain below the long-term average (+3.0%). ... “We expect a more supportive backdrop for U.S. travel in 2026,” said Aran Ryan, director of industry studies with Tourism Economics.
Persistent headwinds, including stagnant consumer sentiment, a fragile labor market, and tariffs and travel fees squeezing international travel culminated in Q4 2025 predictions of a decline in revenue ... The industry is pivoting toward agentic commerce embracing artificial intelligence (AI) to optimize staffing, real-time forecasting, and ensuring properties are discoverable by AI powered travel assistants
Participants engage in roundtable discussions covering critical topics such as mergers and acquisitions, global market trends, and the evolution of cloud technology in hospitality. ... Sung’s Tectris.vc is an early-stage startup accelerator and investor focused on accelerating the adoption of Web3 innovation in the travel and hospitality industry.
With AI transforming a number of industries, hospitality is still seen as being left behind. ... This means that with Neo, hotels can launch their AI Concierge in days, without any technical staff involvement. AI has completely changed how guests browse and book travel.
In a survey of 86 primarily US-based travel executives, cited in the 2025 report Remapping Travel with Agentic AI from McKinsey & Company and Skift Research, 26% of respondents indicated that implementing ... Agentic AI in practice The report Remapping Travel with Agentic AI from McKinsey & Company and Skift Research identified several ways in which agentic AI can significantly enhance hotel operations and
Dimitris Koutoulas, tourism consultant and Assistant Professor of Tourism and Hotel Management, explores what lies ahead for traditional hotel star ratings in an AI-driven world. ... the next generation of travellers.
In practical terms, this could mean: Detecting destination interest before it shows up in search Understanding why a guest is traveling, not just where Aligning messaging and offers to emotional drivers ... Hotels could begin asking: “What is emerging in the cultural imagination that will drive travel next season?”
With 19 properties in its portfolio, Castle Resorts & Hotels is deploying Canary’s Digital Compendium, AI Guest Messaging and Dynamic Upsells to deliver more connected, personalized stays at scale. ... DJ Singh, VP of Global Sales at Canary Technologies Canary’s AI Guest Messaging enables Castle teams to connect with guests instantly across channels like SMS and WhatsApp, with real-time translation in
With Tambourine One, we remove friction at every turn, helping more travelers book in fewer steps. ... personalization tools Website accessibility protection built in—stay fully indemnified from accessibility complaints Travel insurance built in—add real value and convenience for guests AI-enabled CMS
Agentic AI becomes the dominant operational model In 2026, hotels will move from merely experimenting with AI to embedding agents directly into daily operations. ... We can expect operators to increase their investments in agentic AI to not only improve visibility but also bookability on AI platforms such as ChatGPT and Google AI Mode.
SAN FRANCISCO – Sojern , the leading AI-powered marketing platform built for hospitality and recently acquired by RateGain , today announced that Red Roof , a leader in economy lodging, has adopted Sojern ... Sojern’s AI Concierge enhances every stage of the guest journey by automating routine interactions—from service requests and amenity questions to in-stay issue reporting—reducing front desk workload while
Currently, there is no AI, smart technology, certification body, or auditing method that captures all the complexities of sustainable gastronomy in a reliable dashboard that can answer the question on ... In partnership with the Ministry of Digital Economy, we are working on a comprehensive multi-metric solution that integrates blockchain and AI to monitor, benchmark, and rank sustainable gastronomy.
Travel Tech CEO warns state laws restricting AI pricing algorithms could increase costs and force inefficient one-size-fits-all pricing models. ... Restricting or banning the use of algorithms and artificial intelligence in pricing will have a major impact on how the travel industry utilizes dynamic pricing to price perishable travel services.
Analysis argues AI assistants threaten Booking.com's high-margin visibility business by moving travel discovery away from its platform. ... As travel discovery shifts to AI assistants, the platforms controlling recommendations may capture the premium placement economics that Booking.com once owned.
Google's travel industry head advises brands to optimize for AI interpretation of images and reviews rather than traditional keyword strategies. ... in a wide-ranging discussion at the Skift Megatrends event in London Tuesday.
Sean Danson, Founder and CEO of New Pantheon, maps out ten branding shifts that will define hospitality in 2026, from regenerative hospitality and AI-as-infrastructure to immersive storyworlds and quiet ... AI as Infrastructure, Humanity as the Signature Automation and AI are getting good—so good they’re becoming invisible.
The strongest support for AI is in fraud prevention and cybersecurity, with around 6 in 10 hoteliers recognising this area as a (very) helpful use case for AI. ... But even for the most popular use case, almost 1 in 5 do not find AI useful for fraud prevention.
A typical quote from him: AI is going to change the world more than anything in the history of humanity. More than electricity. ... AI is good at explicit data. In fact, not just good, but typically much better than humans.