Global Study on AI & Automation in Hospitality – What’s Your Take?
h2c is conducting a global study on how hotel chains are using AI and automation—and we’d love your input.
Press Releases
AI, Chat Agents, and the Race to Digital Transformation in Hospitality
AI is no longer just a buzzword—it's transforming hospitality at a rapid pace, and Cendyn's Michael Bennett believes the biggest AI breakthroughs are already here. Speaking at ITB, Bennett highlighted AI-powered call centers and contextual chat agents as two of the most impactful innovations, boosting efficiency while reducing labor costs.Through Cendyn's partnership with Poly AI, hotels can now fully automate voice reservations, allowing human agents to focus on high-value guest interactions.
HITEC 2025 Announces Indianapolis Headliners
Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals (HFTP®) is pleased to announce the Headliner session lineup for the 2025 Hospitality Industry Technology Exposition and Conference (HITEC®). The highly anticipated conference is poised to provide groundbreaking insights and inspiration for technology enthusiasts and industry leaders. This year’s standout headliners include Todd Buchholz, a distinguished economist, Harvard professor, former White House economic adviser, and acclaimed author and Jeremy Gustche, CEO of TrendHunter.com, a globally renowned platform for innovation and change.
AI Beyond Chatbots - How Cendyn is Automating Hospitality's Future
AI in hospitality isn't just about chatbots—it's about automation, efficiency, and data-driven decision-making. At ITB, Chris Egan of Cendyn emphasized that the most impactful AI applications are often behind the scenes, streamlining revenue management, marketing optimization, and business intelligence. Instead of just enhancing guest experiences, Cendyn is using AI to cut routine tasks, speed up decision-making, and maximize profitability.
Marriott International Announces Strategic Agreement with PathSpot, an Innovative Real-Time Hand Hygiene Management System and Safety Operations Suite
Marriott International, Inc. (Nasdaq: MAR) today announced it has entered into a strategic agreement with technology company PathSpot Technologies, Inc., the creator of a real-time hygiene management and digital kitchen system that protects against the threat and spread of illness with a handwashing validation system and equipment monitoring technology. As Marriott continues its legacy of hospitality industry innovation, including food and beverage operations, it is the first hospitality company to make PathSpot technology available to the company’s portfolio of over 9,300 properties across the U.S. and Canada, Caribbean and Latin America, Asia Pacific, and Europe and the Middle East.
Bringing Concert-Quality Sound to Hotels & Restaurants
Hospitality is all about creating unforgettable guest experiences, yet sound quality is often overlooked. Michael Kinzel, Global Segment Manager Live & Entertainment Venues at d&b audiotechnik, reveals how their world-class speaker technology—trusted by music icons like Coldplay and Taylor Swift—is now enhancing hotel and restaurant soundscapes.
Hospitality Technology Consulting: It’s Time for a New Approach
Hospitality is about people helping people. Technology can enhance this through robust tools, enabling the workforce to deliver memorable guest experiences. Successful organizations must regularly evaluate their technology stack, processes, data infrastructure, and security to ensure practical support for internal operations and provide the desired guest journey to meet today’s guest expectations.
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.
By Simone Puorto and Tanya Pratt
How AI and Predictive Hospitality Will Reshape Hotel Revenue and Guest Experience
Cloudbeds is pioneering AI-driven predictive hospitality, combining revenue management and marketing into a single intelligent system. CEO Adam Harris explains how their proprietary AI model analyzes billions of data points every hour to help hotels optimize pricing, fine-tune marketing campaigns, and attract guests with precision.
Why Voice and Guest Data are the Future of Direct Bookings
Hotels are sitting on a goldmine of guest data, but few are fully capitalizing on its potential. Dylan Cole, Managing Director EMEA at Revinate, explains how the latest Benchmark Report provides critical insights for hoteliers and why voice remains the top revenue-driving channel for upselling.
Why Hospitality's Future is Conversational, Data-Driven, and AI-Powered
The hospitality industry produces vast amounts of data, yet many hotels struggle to translate it into actionable insights. At ITB Berlin, Infor's VP of Hospitality Strategy, Alan Young, unveiled the company's approach to solving this challenge through AI-driven revenue management and conversational analytics.
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.
Using AI to Redefine Hotel Personalization
In an era where hotels are competing with hyper-personalized digital experiences, Rik van Leeuwen of Ireckonubelieves that data-driven automation is the key to guest loyalty and revenue growth. Speaking at ITB Berlin, he outlined how hoteliers can harness AI to predict guest behavior, automate engagement, and eliminate data silos.
WTTC & Trip.com Group Unveil the Tech Revolution Reshaping Travel & Tourism
The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) and Trip.com Group have unveiled Technology Game Changers: Future Trends in Travel & Tourism at ITB Berlin, spotlighting the innovations set to revolutionise the industry.
The HOTEL Yearbook Unveils its 2025 Annual Edition, Spotlighting Hospitality’s Most Transformative Trends
The HOTEL Yearbook is proud to announce the launch of its 2025 Annual Edition, offering a wide-ranging look at the pressing trends, game-changing technologies, and emerging best practices shaping the future of hospitality. Featuring authoritative insights and forecasts from an international lineup of industry experts and academics, the 2025 Annual Edition underscores how hoteliers, brands, and travel organizations can thrive in a period of rapid transformation.
Travel Tech Launches Innovation Advisory Council with Leading Travel Tech Industry Experts and Entrepreneurs
Today, the Travel Technology Association (Travel Tech), a non-profit dedicated to promoting and protecting the travel technology industry, announced its new Innovation Advisory Council. This group will advise the association on its efforts to support travel tech start-ups and small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) through its Advocate membership level and annual events.
Travel Tech Submits Letter Urging the Trump Administration to Respond to Global Digital Service Taxes
The Travel Technology Association (Travel Tech), a non-profit dedicated to promoting and protecting the travel technology industry, sent a letter to the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative emphasizing the impacts of Global Digital Services Taxes (DSTs) on travel technology companies and the travel industry at large.
Growth Advisors International Network (GAIN) Announces Asia Pacific Leadership Team
Growth Advisors International Network (GAIN), the leading global travel, hospitality and MICE advisory firm for growth & innovation, is proud to announce the formation of its Asia Pacific Leadership Team. This initiative marks a significant expansion of GAIN’s commitment to delivering industry-leading expertise, strategic insights, and innovative solutions tailored to the dynamic APAC hospitality sector.
Preferred Hotels & Resorts Introduces Travel Advisor Portal
Preferred Hotels & Resorts, the world’s largest independent hotel brand, is excited to announce the launch of its new Travel Advisor Portal, a cutting-edge platform designed to empower travel professionals with a comprehensive suite of tools and resources. With its user-friendly interface and advanced features, the portal offers priority access to a curated collection of more than 600 luxury independent hotels, resorts, and residences worldwide – while featuring a seamless, integrated experience for making and managing reservations, preparing rate quotes, submitting commission claims, and more – all in one place.
IHG Hotels & Resorts sparks travel inspiration at AIME 2025 with the Mind Lobby
One of the world’s largest and leading hotel companies, IHG Hotels & Resorts, is helping event planners and buyers navigate the maze of endless travel options with its immersive Mind Lobby activation at AIME 2025 (The Asia Pacific Incentives and Meetings Event) in Melbourne, 10-12 February 2025.