Key takeaways from Destination AI 2026 in Washington D.C., where 500 hospitality leaders signaled a shift from AI experimentation to live operational deployment across hotel distribution.
A former hotelier turned Mews employee shares hard-won advice on PMS procurement: start with operational pain points, involve all staff, and use the switch as a chance to rethink workflows.
Recap of the Destination AI Summit in Washington D.C., where hoteliers, owners, and tech leaders discussed AI's role in automating back-office functions, redefining hotel jobs, and reshaping booking distribution.
The author argues hotel tech vendors should attend investment conferences like IHIF to understand what drives CEOs and institutional owners, shifting focus from incremental software upgrades to anticipating where entirely new travel demand is emerging.
Google's live agentic hotel booking test includes Booking, Expedia, Marriott, Wyndham, and IHG, with Amadeus confirmed as the first GDS infrastructure partner, leaving independents reliant on OTA or GDS pipes.
A closed-door HITEC San Antonio debate between PMS CEOs and hotel CIOs exposes structural gaps in hospitality tech, from labor-cost bias to the myth of seamless cloud integration.
A HITEC 2026 floor report identifies agentic governance, token spend optimization, and two emerging software categories (AMP and GSMS) as the defining shifts in hospitality tech's second phase of AI adoption.
At HITEC 2026 in San Antonio, the dominant theme shifted from AI deployment to AI governance, with Agent Management Platforms emerging as a critical new software category for hotel operations.
A luxury hotel GM with 20+ years of experience argues AI amplifies rather than replaces hospitality professionals, citing Hilton's AI Planner, Be My Eyes partnership, and operational forecasting as real-world examples.
The author argues that HITEC 2026 overlooked a key market gap: back-office AI that reduces overhead and drives margins, while vendors focused almost entirely on guest-facing tools.
Reflections from HITEC 2026 show hoteliers are not seeking more technology but simpler, better-connected systems backed by partners who reduce complexity and stay engaged post-implementation.
A HITEC 2026 recap identifies agentic governance, Agent Management Platforms, and Guest Success Management Systems as the defining trends, with AI shifting from point tools to enterprise-wide orchestrated workflows.
GratifID will host a pre-HITEC 2026 webinar on June 10 for hotel tech consultants, covering NFC vs. QR-based digital tipping platforms ahead of its TIPMO product launch in San Antonio.
As the 2026 tradeshow season opens, the article argues that hotel technology must be evaluated on how well it supports frontline staff, with multilingual interfaces, mobile-first workflows, and vendor partnership as key criteria.
NFC-based tipping systems that bypass app downloads and PMS integration could resolve the cash-tip gap affecting frontline retention, with 2026 seen as the inflection point for mass adoption.
By 2026, AI-native distribution systems that autonomously decide pricing and channel strategy will become essential infrastructure, directly impacting hotel asset valuations and cash flow predictability.
With expectations of limited revenue growth in 2025, U.S. hoteliers are focusing on all expense categories within their hotels. Early indications are that property operators are doing a commendable job managing the more controllable expenses within their operated departments, however, containing the undistributed department expenses is proving to be more of a challenge.
A recent lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California alleges that Accor Management US Inc., the parent company of Fairmont Hotels & Resorts, violated California’s privacy laws by improperly sharing users’ browsing and booking information with social media platforms without user consent. This data sharing is said to have enhanced the algorithms and ad targeting abilities of these platforms.
The annual NYU International Hospitality Industry Investment Conference, now in its 46th year, offers a deep dive into the current and future state of the hospitality industry. This year, I had the privilege of leading a CEO panel discussion on "Innovative hospitality concepts, new spaces for expansion."
Just as the hospitality industry evolves, so too must the format of its conventions, especially one as influential to the hospitality industry as HITEC. This year, the senior team at HFTP has expanded the tradeshow’s depth and impact with the inaugural HITEC Technology Investment Conference, taking place immediately after the main event on Thursday, June 27 and Friday, June 29. While it’s been in the making for a long time, we couldn’t have hoped for a better year to debut this addition.