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Hotel Chains Built AI for the Traveler Who Comes to Them First. That Traveler Is Leaving.
Wednesday brought a sharp argument that hotel chains have built AI tools to defend direct bookings while the discovery journey has already moved to ChatGPT and Google AI, two Oracle and Alliants interviews from the HITEC floor, and Trip.com data showing coolcation searches up 74% as European summer heat reshapes demand. STR's alternative hotel demand indicators and the RFP season's structural shift rounded out a content-heavy midweek session.
What HSMAI 2026 Kept Saying (Whether It Meant To or Not)
A conference recap from HSMAI 2026 in San Antonio covering four recurring themes: resilient consumer spending, commercial team alignment, AI-driven hotel discovery, and the return to hospitality fundamentals.
By Sonya Taylor, Director of Operations and Marketing, Cogwheel Marketing & Analytics
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Doug Kennedy’s Next Staff Training Webcast: Proactive, Polite, and Productive Hotel Sales Prospecting
Doug Kennedy's free July 24 webcast covers proactive hotel sales prospecting habits, CRM use, and warm-calling tactics, with future sessions on humanification and upselling.
Choice Hotels International Appoints Artificial Intelligence Leader Ali Keshavarz to Board of Directors
Choice Hotels appoints CVS Health's Ali Keshavarz, a data and AI expert with McKinsey and Aetna backgrounds, to its board to support AI-driven growth across its franchise portfolio.
Oracle's Tanya Pratt: Cloud was the foundation, AI is the decoration
We didn't go to HITEC 2026 for the demos. We went for the conversations. We sat down with exhibitors right there on the show floor. No script, no prepared questions, just one starting point: tell us what you do, in plain language. This is where it went with Tanya Pratt, Global Vice President of Strategy and Product Management at Oracle Hospitality.
Recent Appointments
View AllGeneral Management
Andrew Moore has been appointed as Managing Director at Rosewood Phnom Penh
General Management
Alec Strandburg has been appointed as General Manager at Cypress Inn
Food & Beverage
John Ondo has been appointed as Executive Chef at Planters Inn
Hotel Yearbook Article The Hotel Yearbook 2026 - Technology Edition
The Data Foundation of Agentic Hospitality
Vassilis Syropoulos argues that before hospitality can benefit from agentic AI, it needs to solve a problem most organizations are actively avoiding: the data foundation underneath it. Using the Prometheus metaphor to frame both the promise and the danger, he maps a four-quadrant framework that shows why clean data without hospitality context is still dangerous, and why trust — earned incrementally, proven on the record — is the only legitimate path to autonomous action.
By Vassilis Syropoulos, Founder & CEO, Juyo Analytics
KG Hotel Opens in Klaksvík, Adding a New Landmark Resort to the Faroe Islands
A new gateway to the dramatic North Atlantic has opened. Today, the Faroe Islands' newest resort hotel, KG, welcomes its first guests in the town of Klaksvík. KG becomes a new landmark in one of the world's most remote destinations, leading with nature-centric design, hyperlocal dining and ocean-inspired wellness.
Rotana Expands Its Portfolio with First-Ever Ski Resort in Georgia
Rotana is pleased to announce the signing of Gudauri Ski Resort, the group's first ski resort and a milestone that introduces an entirely new category of hospitality to its global portfolio.
Expedia Group’s Latest Research, Mapping the Future of APAC Travel, Shows Travel Professionals Expect Growth, but Complexity Risks Slowing Momentum
Survey of 1,250 APAC travel professionals finds 65% expect demand growth over the next 2-3 years, with India and Australia most confident, but payment complexity, legacy systems, and content gaps risk slowing momentum.
AI terms for independent hoteliers: what actually happens when a guest books through AI
A practical guide for independent hoteliers explaining AI booking discovery, hallucination risks, GEO, and how connectivity to AI platforms determines whether bookings land direct or via OTAs.
By Femke Nollet, Content Specialist, Lighthouse
Supplier News
View all10 critical hospitality challenges AI is transforming and why hotels can no longer ignore them
RateGain's VP APAC MENA outlines 10 AI use cases for hotels, from predictive pricing to 24/7 chat, as 70% of APAC travelers already use AI across the travel journey.
Fitzroy Island Resort Australia Achieves 50% Night Audit Efficiency Gain With Agilysys Hospitality Ecosystem
Fitzroy Island Resort replaced fragmented legacy software with the Agilysys cloud-native ecosystem, cutting night audit time by four hours per shift and enabling AR reports to be configured in under five minutes.
Laasie and Stayntouch Announce Strategic Integration to Power Next-Generation Hotel Loyalty Experiences
Laasie and Stayntouch have integrated their loyalty and cloud PMS platforms, giving hotels real-time profile sync, flexible reward options, and tools to boost direct bookings across 3,000+ properties.
GreenStar Hotels Elevates Sustainable Hospitality with Canary Technologies
Finland's first carbon-neutral hotel chain has deployed Canary's digital check-in, AI messaging, and upsell tools across its five-property portfolio.
Suncani Hvar Hotels standardizes operations with Shiji’s Infrasys POS across multi-property portfolio
Suncani Hvar Hotels deployed Shiji's Infrasys POS across nine properties and 40+ outlets in Croatia, unifying order management, payments, and reporting on a single cloud platform.
Fitzroy Island Resort Australia Achieves 50% Night Audit Efficiency Gain With Agilysys Hospitality Ecosystem
Fitzroy Island Resort replaced fragmented legacy software with Agilysys's cloud-native platform, cutting night audit time by four hours per shift and enabling automated financial reporting in under five minutes.
Shiji Expands Meridian Experiences with Scheduled Activities and Integrated Resource Commissions in Daylight PMS
Shiji's Daylight PMS gains two new Meridian Experiences features: Scheduled Activities for group session bookings and Resource Commissions for automated staff commission tracking and payouts.
Coolcations gain traction as European summer travel patterns shift
Trip.com data shows coolcation searches rose 74% year over year in H1 2026, with Northern Europe and Alpine destinations gaining ground as heatwaves reshape European summer demand.
Ginger Expands Presence In Maharashtra, Steps Into Gadchiroli
Indian Hotels Company (IHCL) ,India’s largest hospitality company, today announced the opening of Ginger Gadchiroli, Mul Road.
Minor Hotels Strengthens Its Presence in Austria with the Signing of NH Collection Innsbruck Grand Hotel Europa
Minor Hotels, a global hospitality leader with more than 640 properties in operation and under development across 66 countries, announces the signing of NH Collection Innsbruck Grand Hotel Europa, a landmark hotel in the heart of Innsbruck, one of Austria’s leading destinations for both leisure and business travel.
Hoteliers beware: AI versus search is a false narrative
AI is not replacing search but expanding it, and hoteliers must adapt by optimizing for conversational queries, structured data, and AI-driven recommendation engines alongside traditional SEO.
By Shearly Reyes, Media Director, Cendyn™
WTTC and UNEP Forge Landmark Alliance to Fast-Track Sustainable Travel and Tourism
WTTC and UNEP signed an MoU running through June 2028, committing to joint action on circular economy, plastic pollution, food waste, and biodiversity across the global travel and tourism sector.
Beyond GDP and Inflation: Several alternative indicators show strong predictive value for U.S. hotel demand
STR analysis finds credit utilization and income band data outperform GDP and inflation as demand predictors for luxury and economy hotel segments, pointing to increasingly fragmented demand drivers by chain scale.
Hotel chains built AI for the traveler who comes to them first. That traveler is leaving
Major chains have built AI tools to defend direct booking conversions, but the discovery journey now starts on ChatGPT and Google AI, platforms brands cannot see, measure, or control.
By Markus Busch, Editor/Publisher, hospitality.today
What Hoteliers Really Need in 2026: Partners who simplify operations, not just more systems.
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.
By Ethan Brown, Head of Sales, Shiji
From Recovery to Reinvestment: Evolution of the Pinellas Beachfront Hotel Market
Pinellas County's beachfront hotel market is rebounding from 2024 hurricane damage with multiple property reopenings, luxury brand additions including two Marriott projects, and a growing development pipeline signaling long-term investor confidence.
By Hannah McManus, Project Manager, Tampa, HVS
Hyatt, HSL Properties, and Desert Hospitality Management Announce Plans for Tucson's First Hyatt Regency Hotel
Hyatt Hotels Corporation (NYSE: H), in collaboration with HSL Properties and Desert Hospitality Management, today announced plans for the debut of Hyatt Regency Tucson Convention Center, expected to open in late 2027. The hotel will mark the first Hyatt Regency-branded property in Tucson and further strengthen Hyatt's brand presence in Southern Arizona.
Wellness Tourism Association Establishes Framework for Responsible Retreats™, Setting a Standard for the Rapidly Expanding Retreat Industry
The Wellness Tourism Association launched Six Principles for Responsible Retreats, the first global framework for retreat industry standards, as the market heads toward $363.9 billion by 2032.