Innovation

📖 In 2024, travelers from the U.K., France, and Germany were surveyed for the Europe Consumer Travel Report 2025, highlighting their trip-planning and purchasing behavior. Despite a positive travel outlook, rising costs and sustainability issues may impact plans. Key focus areas include travel frequency, destinations, duration, spending, and the influence of emerging technologies, such as social media. Phocuswright's Open Access provides unlimited access to in-depth travel research, supporting strategic industry insights and competitive advantage.

🏨 Luis Segredo, CEO of Hapi and Data Travel, LLC, was inducted into the 2025 International Hospitality Technology Hall of Fame at HITEC. Over the past six months, the number of hotels using Hapi doubled, partly due to innovations initially developed for Wyndham and IHG. Segredo plans to expand Hapi's adoption across hotel groups, focusing on simplifying processes for hoteliers. He emphasizes relationships based on integrity and fair play and advises against exploiting others for success.

💻 In the hospitality industry, Customer Experience Platforms (CXPs) are crucial for enhancing team productivity by automating tasks and streamlining operations. TrustYou’s CXP, designed for hotels, gathers and analyzes guest feedback, impacting reputation management and service improvement. It provides benefits like real-time feedback collection, AI-driven reputation management, actionable insights, and cross-department collaboration. Hotels using TrustYou's CXP report improved responsiveness, guest satisfaction, and stronger online reputation, which ultimately drive loyalty and revenue.

💻 Summer 2025 sees record-breaking travel and a surge in cyberattacks on hotels. VikingCloud’s 2025 report shows 82% of North American hotels experienced successful cyberattacks in 2024, with 66% reporting increased frequency and 50% noting greater severity. Key vulnerabilities include POS systems, guest Wi-Fi, and front desk tech. Downtime often exceeds 12 hours, causing financial and reputational damage. Despite risks, 40% cite outdated tech, 22% lack staff training, and 30% have no MSSP plans. Cybersecurity is crucial for guest trust and business continuity.

💻 As of summer 2025, 82% of North American hotels faced successful cyberattacks during the 2024 peak season. Attacks increased by 66% in frequency and 50% in severity. Key vulnerabilities include POS systems, guest Wi-Fi, and front desk tech, causing downtime over 12 hours. Only a fraction have advanced cybersecurity, while 40% cite outdated technology as a risk. 30% lack plans with MSSPs, despite their benefits in reducing recovery time. Cybersecurity now directly impacts guest experience and business continuity.

📱 Stayntouch partners with Kixby Hotel in New York City, offering a 195-room boutique accommodation. The implementation of Stayntouch PMS led to a 25% faster check-in/out process and a 40% decrease in interdepartmental miscommunication. It integrates with IDeaS G3 for real-time rate updates, enhancing revenue. The system saves time in room assignments and streamlines pre-arrival payments, allowing staff to focus on guest engagement and upsell opportunities.

📈 Sarah Dinger, Executive Vice President of Franchise Operations at My Place Hotels, discusses strategies for building profitable hotel owner relationships using technology. The focus is on engaging owners strategically to enhance bottom-line results and deliver value for stakeholders.

💻 AI is revolutionizing hotel marketing by influencing guest decisions. Artificial Hotelligence, a new tool developed without an engineering background, enhances hotel visibility in AI-driven platforms like ChatGPT and Gemini. It allows hotels to compare themselves to competitors and receive actionable insights. Initial access is free for early users. The platform addresses the hotel industry's need for practical AI navigation tools and encourages participation from marketing, digital, e-commerce, revenue, and tech sectors. [Link](https://lnkd.in/eWckADz7)

📈 44% globally mistrust the travel industry's AI fraud protection, rising to 50% for sharing economy users. In the UK, that figure is 55%. AI-enabled fraud is considered a greater threat by 69% of respondents. 74% globally are open to extended identity verification for increased security, up from 71% in 2024. Sharing economy support stands at 70%, while 80% in banking prefer stricter checks. Enhanced security measures are crucial, especially in the sharing economy.

🛅 2025: Jumio's report highlights 44% of consumers globally distrust the travel industry's security against AI fraud. In the sharing economy, distrust rises to 50% globally and 55% in the UK. 69% believe AI fraud is a bigger threat than traditional identity theft. 74% of global consumers are willing to spend more time on identity verification for security, rising to 80% in banking. IT teams should enhance AI-driven fraud prevention and improve digital ID processes for better consumer trust.