Category: Recent News

I’ve been monitoring my customer service experiences with the brands I do business with a little more closely than usual. And I’ve made numerous calls to airlines, mobile phone carriers, electronics companies, and more. I’ve found that people are typically friendly and do their best to support me. To clear my conscience, I admit that my recent call to my cable provider was tense due to my frustration with a faulty router, but that tenuous conversation was my fault, not theirs. I was obviously upset with the product, but my rep remained calm and did everything in her power to resolve the issue. She gets an A for effort, attitude, and knowledge.

The 2026 Guest Experience Benchmark reveals a hotel industry that continues to mature under pressure. Despite record tourist arrivals in several regions, guest satisfaction continued to rise. This matters because volume growth often strains service delivery. Yet the data shows that hotels are coping better than ever.

As hotels navigate continued pressure on rooms revenue, F&B has firmly stepped into the spotlight as one of the most powerful drivers of ancillary income. For F&B leaders, the opportunity to maximise spend while streamlining operations has never been more compelling. Mobile ordering in particular has seen a marked acceleration in its adoption and impact in recent years as operators look to do more with leaner teams while enhancing the guest experience.

Hospitality Solutions, a leading hospitality technology provider, today announced it has rebranded as Aven Hospitality, an independent solutions provider powering how hotels sell, distribute, and deliver guest experiences. Trusted by 35,000+ hotels globally, Aven Hospitality provides integrated software platforms that help hotels manage operational complexity, fragmented distribution, and technology-driven changes in how travelers discover and book hotels.

Bleisure, the blending of business and leisure travel, has become a growing trend in the world of business travel. More and more guests are seeking a seamless experience that allows them to remain productive during the day, while also embracing meaningful time to connect with their destination. GCSTIMES believes this shift in travel preferences presents a unique opportunity: to encourage longer, more intentional stays without increasing travel volume or carbon footprint.

Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals (HFTP®) and Hospitality Upgrade are pleased to announce that program planning for the upcoming CIO Summit EMEA has begun and the opportunity for senior hospitality technology leaders from across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa to register their interest is now available. This exclusive event, at the W Amsterdam, will offer programming that prompts attendees to exchange ideas, explore strategic technology topics, and form lasting relationships in a collaborative, vendor-neutral setting.

Luxury resorts do not suffer from a lack of marketing sophistication. Many operate with advanced technology stacks, experienced teams, and more data than at any point in their history.

The hospitality industry is investing heavily in technology, data, and automation – but many hotel teams still feel like progressisn’t translating into real operational impact. While systems are more advanced than ever, fragmented data and manual workarounds continue to slow decision-making and strain already stretched teams.

Located at Royal Victoria Dock beside ExCeL London, Sunborn London is the UK’s only luxury yacht hotel, offering waterfront views across the historic Royal Docks and an experience tailored to celebratory stays such as birthdays, anniversaries, and proposals. Delivering five-star service aboard a docked yacht presents unique operational challenges, from tight physical spaces to complex guest flows and the need for seamless coordination across onboard departments including F&B, MICE, and housekeeping.

Google has officially entered a new phase of inbox intelligence. With the rollout of Gmail features powered by Gemini AI, the inbox is no longer just a place where emails arrive. It is becoming an AI-curated feed that prioritizes relevance, engagement, and perceived importance.For hoteliers, this shift represents more than a product update. It signals a fundamental change in how marketing emails are evaluated, surfaced, and consumed by guests. While traditional deliverability still matters, visibility is now determined by how much attention your emails earn.