Cendyn reorients its leadership under new CEO Michael Bennett, restructuring around former hospitality operators to offer deeper commercial consultation, managed services, and AI-readiness support.
Under new CEO Michael Bennett, Cendyn has restructured its go-to-market approach around former hotel operators, adding managed services and commercial consultation measured by customer revenue outcomes.
Google's commission-free Universal Cart is a placement play: by owning the AI surface where travel decisions are made, Google charges for consideration rather than transactions, shifting auction dynamics against hotels and OTAs alike.
Google I/O's AI announcements signal a shift toward assembled, agentic travel planning that could upend how OTAs capture travel discovery and disrupt the top of the booking funnel.
Tambourine One's booking engine now supports Apple Pay, Google Pay, and expanded international payments, with a zero transaction fee model to reduce distribution costs for hoteliers.
Lighthouse acquires Hotelrank.ai to add real-time AI visibility analytics to its Connect AI platform, letting hotels track rankings, citations, and direct vs. OTA link distribution across ChatGPT and Gemini.
Google's agentic booking partners include Booking.com and Expedia, suggesting agentic AI adds a new distribution layer above OTAs rather than bypassing them, shifting who owns the traveler relationship.
Cloudbeds analyzed 32 million bookings across 180 countries, finding dorm ADR fell 8.2% while OTA share rose to 73.7% globally, with cancellation rates more than double those of direct bookings.
Revinate CMO Karen Stephens and Highgate VP of CRM Aaron Miller discuss how hotels can adopt AI for search, discovery, and personalization without sacrificing the human connection guests expect.
A practical guide for hoteliers on using long-tail keywords, structured data, and FAQ content to improve visibility in AI-powered generative search and drive direct bookings.
Orea Hotels CEO Gorjan Lazarov shares how the Czech group grew direct bookings from near zero to 60% of revenue by combining brand investment, data infrastructure, and technology-driven guest experience.
Maestro PMS will exhibit at HITEC 2026 in San Antonio (June 15-18, Booth #2038), showcasing a unified platform with new mobile check-in, spa/wellness integration, BI analytics, and gift card tools for independent hotels.
Opinion piece arguing Southeast Asia hoteliers can cut OTA dependency from 65-70% to 35-40% within 18 months using AI chatbots, behavioural triggers, and direct-rate advantages now available for under $50/month.
Google's Universal Commerce Protocol now lists hotel booking as a retail vertical alongside Nike and Walmart, raising structural questions about whether lodging's complex cancellation, pricing, and merchant-of-record rules can survive a retail-shaped commerce rail.
Lodging Interactive launches a weekly blog series offering branded hotels practical organic social media storytelling tactics, focused on mobile-captured content requiring no professional production.
A tactical guide for hoteliers on optimizing hotel websites to convert high-intent World Cup 2026 traffic into direct bookings using urgency messaging, personalization, and upsell strategies.
Shiji Horizon Distribution and Kismet integrate real-time ARI data with AI-readable content structuring, with early results showing a 2.1x direct revenue increase and 17% of bookings via AI channels within 60 days.
A Marriott Bonvoy survey of 1,731 APEC travelers finds 66% participate in hotel loyalty programs, with engagement shaped by three distinct mindsets: Loyalty Strategists, Value Optimizers, and Experience Seekers.
GuestCentric argues that generic upsell menus hurt conversion, citing data showing only 3% of guests buy add-ons, and presents adaptive, reservation-aware offer targeting as the fix.
Lexis Hotel Group used Amadeus iHotelier Suite to shift to a direct-first strategy in 2025, recovering $502K via cart abandonment tools and achieving 37% total revenue growth amid reduced inbound travel.