I'm a HITEC Fan! - Vanessa Naylon, Marketing Manager at Orion Labs
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Loyalty is not bought with plastic or points; it is earned through attention, presence, memory, and the feeling of being recognized. Today’s travelers are weary of diabolical complexity: shifting valuations, tight expirations, inbox noise, and mirage-like rewards, so brands must move from arithmetic to symbolism, from diabállō to symbállō. As Ellis Connolly notes, loyalty is an experience, not an infrastructure; emotions scale through stories, not bureaucracy; and technology should expand choice, not enforce rules. Begin by offering first-party value with immediate benefits, give guests simple choices and instant recognition, and let rewards spill beyond the hotel walls into the life of the destination. Future programs should feel like a living script, collapsing the time between action and acknowledgment through micro-rewards, visible member value, and local partnerships. The hotels that win in 2025 will make recognition a form of grace, keep fewer promises but keep them well, and prove, right away, that guests are seen.
Cybersecurity in hospitality is becoming more dangerous, with hotels especially exposed due to sensitive data and increasingly complex systems. Aleksander Ludynia, Chief Security Officer at Shiji Group, explains that the greatest risk often lies with people. Leaner teams mean less time for vital processes, and moving to all-in-one platforms with automation can help ensure that essential tasks are not overlooked.In conversation with Adam Mogelonsky, Aleksander also warns that artificial intelligence makes phishing attempts far more convincing, raising the stakes for hotels. The best defense is a strong security culture, supported by training, resources, and leadership. Watch the full conversation now to learn how hotels can turn cybersecurity into a shared strength for their teams.
Email fatigue is a growing challenge for hotel marketers, as overwhelmed consumers increasingly tune out impersonal, high-frequency messages. In this interview for the Direct Booking Mastery Certification, Jonathan Holcomb, VP of Commercial Strategy at Storey Hotel Management Group, shares with Adam Mogelonsky how his team combats this trend by leveraging Revinate-powered microsegmentation and CRM-integrated marketing journeys across their independent hotels. By aligning personalized content with smart data flows, contextual guest insights, and well-paced delivery, Storey achieves stronger engagement, fewer unsubscribes, and measurable increases in direct bookings, all supported by a modern OBE that captures and activates guest data throughout the booking journey.
At HITEC 2025, Whitney Spratt, General Manager of the Hotels Division at Tripleseat, shared how her team is delivering record growth, driven by word-of-mouth, customer-centric product development, and a commitment to empowering hospitality teams through technology. She believes that automation should work "like a ninja", in the background, freeing up staff to focus on what matters most: the guest. For Spratt, good technology should enhance the human element, not replace it. "You can"t remove the human element from hospitality, or it"s no longer hospitality."
