April 29, 2025

📈 Clermont Hotel Group partners with IDeaS for revenue management and operational efficiency. This includes implementing IDeaS' RMS G3 package and Optix tool across Clermont's UK portfolio, aiming to enhance revenue strategy, boost efficiency, and drive growth. Optix enables real-time reporting, actionable insights, and strategic decision-making for properties like The Tower Hotel, The Cumberland, and the Royal Horseguards Hotel. The partnership emphasizes accurate pricing, time and cost savings, and after-sales support, transforming revenue trend analysis and reporting.

💻 KAYAK, a travel metasearch engine, launched KAYAK.ai, an AI platform, using OpenAI's technology combined with their own data. KAYAK.ai features over 400 providers' pricing, aiming to transfer successful features to KAYAK.com. CEO Steve Hafner announced the new platform and the appointment of Yaron Zeidman as CTO, a former Agoda veteran with 29 years of experience, to lead KAYAK's 400+ product and engineering teams in AI advancement.

🏡 Cloudbeds has expanded its integrated payments solution, CB Pay, into Thailand, becoming one of the few hospitality platforms offering end-to-end payment options for hoteliers in the country. The platform enables hoteliers to automate onboarding, manage ledgers, settle payments in local currency, and securely process both local and international credit cards. In partnership with dLocal, Cloudbeds facilitates fast settlements in Thai Baht, optimizing cash flow and financial management for Thai hotels. CEO Adam Harris highlights the solution's ability to handle collection to reconciliation on a centralized platform, aiming for global deployment.

📅 At the Arabian Travel Market 2025, Mabrian Technologies and Almawave Group co-hosted a roundtable titled "Successful Market Strategies With AI and Data Intelligence". The event, part of the Global Travel and Tourism Resilience Council and involving Travolution, gathered 20 senior executives for a 90-minute discussion on AI and data intelligence in travel. Attendees included representatives from Visit Oman, Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Authority, NEOM, PATA, the Egyptian Hotel Association, and consultancies like McKinsey & Co., BCG, and Roland Berger. Emphasis was placed on leadership and collaboration for effective use of AI, with a focus on operationalizing insights for the Middle East's tourism sector.

🛡 A restaurateur lost $450,000 to email fraud during a multimillion-dollar project build-out; the CFO wired money to a fake vendor account. Cybercriminals frequently target hospitality businesses, exploiting vendor systems, POS devices, and even personal phones. Ineffective vendor contracts often leave businesses handling breach investigations, customer notifications, and crisis communications. Cyber insurance can cover these components but may require specific security measures like multi-factor authentication and employee training. Hospitality lags in cybersecurity but can take steps to mitigate risks, such as verifying payment instructions, securing POS devices, and updating systems.