Innovation

🔒 HBX Group, a travel technology marketplace, is the first B2B company in the travel industry to implement Mutual Transport Layer Security (mTLS) protocol, enhancing cybersecurity. The protocol, which adds an extra layer of protection, was validated for effectiveness and ease of integration through a pilot program. HBX Group's API, used by travel agencies and tour operators, will benefit from this security advancement. HBX Group CIO Paula Felstead emphasized the importance of trust and security for sustainable growth in tourism.

🏠 Digital twins are transforming the hospitality industry by enhancing employee training, improving maintenance, and boosting sales. Utilizing VR/AR for hands-on training with assets like HVAC and AV equipment minimizes costly mistakes. Maintenance teams use digital twins fed with real-time sensor data to anticipate failures, reducing downtime and extending lifespan. Sales teams can virtually showcase properties to secure event contracts. Joseph Callahan, CEO of Ciright, emphasizes the efficiency, safety, and guest experience benefits of this technology.

🏨 On Feb 25, 2025, an article highlighted the use of ChatGPT to personalize hotel guest experiences, detailing a no-tech-needed approach with five steps: defining brand identity, segmenting guests, mapping touchpoints, customizing prompts, and continuously improving based on feedback. These steps are designed to ensure guests feel recognized and valued, which can enhance their stay and distinguish a hotel from competitors. Full details are available at Bookboost.

🛫 On Feb 25, 2025, it was highlighted that Travel Management Companies (TMCs) fail to meet modern corporate travel needs due to outdated processes, complexity, and poor data utilization. Inefficiencies, hidden costs, and a focus on crisis management over prevention threaten their relevance. As AI-driven solutions advance, TMCs risk obsolescence without significant, revolutionary changes, including automation and real-time expense integration.

🏨 On Feb 25, 2025, Amadeus announced a partnership with Salesforce to introduce a new hotel service center solution projected to cut call times by up to 40% and boost hotels’ revenue through personalized guest promotions. The advanced system integrates Salesforce Service Cloud with Amadeus' reservation and guest interaction tools, targeting efficiency and scalability for varying hotel sizes. Innovative features include Agentforce for productivity and data analytics for context-aware upselling.

🎶 Marketers in the QSR and franchise restaurant sector leverage digital advertising, including in-app advertising, connected TV, and SMS promotions. Programmatic advertising, optimized through cloud services, has become pivotal, allowing criteria-based automatic ad placement bidding. QSR brands often utilize valuable first-party data from apps for better targeting, facilitated by advertising partners using data clean rooms to maintain user privacy. Mobile gaming, surpassing podcasting and traditional media with a $185 billion revenue in 2022, presents a significant opportunity for audio ads. It offers an extensive reach with four times the active users of Netflix's ad-supported subscribers and a 15-20% share of the 546 million global podcast listeners. Programmatic audio advertising enables creative flexibility, targeted reach, and scalability in engaging formats. Odeeo, co-founded by Elad Stern in 2021, specializes in in-game audio advertising solutions to tap into this market.

🍕 Restaurant operators are leveraging online and mobile app ordering to reduce third-party fees and improve customer satisfaction. Liner-free label printers aid in ensuring order accuracy and efficiency, particularly in quick-service restaurants (QSRs). Self-ordering kiosks are increasingly popular, enhancing guest experiences by reducing wait times, improving order precision, and offering upselling opportunities without extra staffing costs. These strategies are part of the industry's adaptation to technological advancements and changing consumer expectations.

🔮 ToDo Robotics' BellaBot Pro is reshaping hospitality by handling tasks like food delivery and bussing tables in hotels and restaurants. El Porton Mexican Group, across Georgia, Tennessee, and Arkansas, uses multiple units for improved service speed and customer engagement. BellaBot Pro integrates with POS and PMS and offers significant labor cost savings over time. Initially, older guests may face adoption challenges, but overall, reception is positive. The bot supports staff, rather than replacing them, and features customizable branding and voice options. Future AI advancements will enhance capabilities, aiming to address labor shortages and elevate guest experiences.

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📖 Bret Thorn, Senior Food & Beverage Editor for Nation’s Restaurant News and Restaurant Hospitality, reports on food and beverage trends and hosts "In the Kitchen with Bret Thorn" podcast. Writing since 1999, Thorn's expertise includes French cuisine and Asian foods, with a focus on Thailand. He was a columnist for The New York Sun from 2005 to 2008, covered restaurant and business news in Thailand in the mid-90s, and worked for ABC News during 1989's Tiananmen Square events. Thorn's a magna cum laude Tufts graduate, studied at Le Cordon Bleu, and wrote for notable food encyclopedias. Inducted into Disciples d'Escoffier in 2014, he lives in Brooklyn, NY. Contact him at [email protected] or follow on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.