Innovation

📖 Hotel General Managers need an AI Playbook now to enhance guest experience, profitability, and operational resilience with leaner teams and tighter margins. Pertlink's vendor-agnostic Modern Hotel General Manager AI Playbook & Toolkit is designed for low-risk adoption, enhancing human judgment rather than replacing it. Pertlink, established in October 2000 in Hong Kong, specializes in hospitality IT consultancy, leveraging its global network to maximize hotel guest experiences through technology. Download the playbook to gain a leadership advantage.

🏨 Mews, an operating system for hospitality, was named Best Property Management System at the 2026 HotelTechAwards in Amsterdam, marking its third consecutive win. The company also won Best POS Provider. Mews expanded its product portfolio, integrating Atomize and Flexkeeping, and scored a perfect 100 HT Score for three years straight. Mews serves over 12,500 customers in 85+ countries and has raised $410 million from notable investors.

📰 HBX Group and NYU professors reveal Gen Z travel trends and preferences. In 2023, Gen Z prioritizes personalization when it's transparent and empowering. 65% travel for leisure, with 31% spending $1,000-$2,500 annually. Personalized recommendations are favored by 66%, especially for local activities (75%). Authenticity, empathy, and context are key to successful personalization. Most Gen Z travelers reject impersonal ads and value experiences that connect them with local culture.

🛫 2026, Las Vegas hosted CES, attracting 150,000 attendees from 150 countries, utilizing 150,000 hotel rooms, and contributing over $300 million in economic impact. CES highlighted the pivotal role of Hospitality & Travel as the infrastructure enabling the innovation economy. Technology showcased included NVIDIA agents, Zeroth’s W1 robot, and UniXAI, all emphasizing task replacement. Mobility innovations featured the Vegas Loop and autonomous vehicles. Despite automation, human interaction remains essential for building trust and creating memorable experiences.

💼 MIMARU, a leading apartment-style hotel brand in Japan, will offer Sumitomo's "Any Wear, Anywhere" clothing-sharing service for guests starting January 19, 2026. Advance reservations open on January 7, 2026, with the trial running through March 2026. The service allows families to reserve seasonal clothing online, easing luggage burdens and promoting sustainable travel. MIMARU's spacious rooms cater to international families, with 90% of guests staying multiple nights. Early feedback highlights practicality and convenience.

💻 In Australia, only a third of businesses have a clear AI strategy, while less than half have formal data strategies, despite two-thirds claiming to be data-driven. The focus for hoteliers should be on predictive analytics rather than leading AI innovation. By leveraging global technology platforms, hoteliers can tap into anonymized data to drive new revenue streams, enhancing customer experiences without the need for sole expertise in AI. SiteMinder supports with over 125 million reservations generating US$50 billion annually.

💳 Jan 13, 2026. Banks and card issuers like American Express, Capital One, Chase, Nubank, and Revolut are transforming into hotel booking platforms by integrating travel marketplaces into financial apps. This shift emphasizes the importance of inventory and pricing integration into loyalty ecosystems. With AI-driven servicing and GDS APIs from Amadeus, Sabre, and Travelport, hotels must adapt to avoid distribution risks. Pricing integrity and aggregation layers enhance hotel reach and booking frequency, reshaping hospitality distribution.

💻 Jan 13, 2026. Travel AI's constraint lies in UI, not language models. Emotional and visual travel planning clashes with linear chat interfaces, which hinder decision-making. Future innovations focus on experiential UIs over smarter models. Improved design supports visual exploration, reduces cognitive load, and combines inspiration with real-time booking. Competitive edge in travel AI requires intuitive interfaces. Source: Mohit Soni.