At HITEC 2024, Simone Puorto interviewed Ralph Van Hooijdonk, Founder and CEO of Venuesuite. They discussed Venuesuite's offerings and Ralph's perspectives on the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) in the hospitality industry, particularly in venue management.

Introduction and Company Overview

Ralph Van Hooijdonk introduces himself as the Founder and CEO of Venuesuite, a software company based in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Venuesuite specializes in venue management systems and booking engines for meeting and event locations. This was Ralph's first time attending HITEC, and he expressed excitement about participating.

Predictions for AI in Hospitality

Ralph addresses the pervasive topic of AI in the industry. Despite the hype, he shares a cautious perspective, indicating that Venuesuite is currently staying away from AI due to its unreliability. Ralph predicts that there won't be any dramatic changes in the hospitality business, specifically in meeting and event venues, within the next year.

Long-Term Impact of AI

While Ralph is skeptical about significant short-term changes, he believes the landscape will look completely different in three years. He foresees a period of experimentation where companies, including Venuesuite, will play around with AI, make mistakes, and start collecting valuable data. Ralph emphasizes the importance of using clean, reliable data to train algorithms, suggesting that this foundational work will eventually enable more meaningful AI applications.

Current AI Applications and Future Developments

Ralph envisions that in the next year, the industry will see various small initiatives and experimental projects involving AI. However, he stresses that widespread confidence and significant applications of AI are still a few years away. The focus will be on learning and building a solid data foundation to support future advancements.

Conclusion

Ralph Van Hooijdonk's insights provide a realistic view of AI's role in venue management and the broader hospitality industry. While acknowledging the potential of AI, he highlights the current limitations and the need for a careful, data-driven approach to its adoption. This interview is part of Hospitality Net's HITEC 2024 series, featuring forward-thinking leaders in hospitality technology.

 

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