Category: Recent News

The hospitality industry is undergoing a significant transformation due to advances in technology. Innovations in software, hardware, and digital solutions are revolutionizing guest experiences and streamlining operations for hotels, resorts, restaurants, and tourist attractions.

Hyatt Hotels Corporation (the “Company” or “Hyatt”) (NYSE: H) disclosed it has executed an exclusivity agreement with Playa Hotels & Resorts N.V. (“Playa”) (NASDAQ: PLYA) under which Playa has agreed to negotiate exclusively with Hyatt regarding potential strategic alternatives, which may include the acquisition of Playa by Hyatt.

Let’s play 20 Questions. Luke Jamieson, a customer experience (CX) thought leader in Australia, asked me to answer 20 customer experience questions in a “lightning round” style for one of his projects. As I considered my answers, I realized that the subscribers to my newsletter and videos would also enjoy them. There is a lot here, so I’m breaking it into two parts. So, let’s get right into it:

Through numerous conversations with hotel tech executives, brand C-suites and owners over the course of 2024, when asked about what to prioritize on the technology front for 2025, the most common answer is simply, “Data.”

U.S. hotel industry revenue per available room (RevPAR) rose a whopping 18.2% during the week ending 14 December 2024. This was the highest weekly RevPAR gain since February 2023 (excluding a recent week that was skewed by the Thanksgiving calendar shift). The strong performance was seen across the industry, driven largely by an 8.9% gain in average daily rate (ADR), which was the highest for the industry since February 2023.

Earlier this year, Hilton leaders gathered at the 75th International Aeronautical Congress in Milan, Italy, to talk about the future of hospitality in space, including how to make accommodations comfortable, how to make food fresh and sustainable, and more.

With the globalisation of music, it has become ever easier for people around the world to discover and connect with different genres and artists. This has sparked tourists’ interest in visiting the places where their favourite music originated or where iconic musical events, such as festivals, take place. Thanks to an innovative empirical study by Dr Seongseop (Sam) Kim and Dr Antony King Fung Wong of the School of Hotel and Tourism Management (SHTM) at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, working with a co-author, we now know more about how a global music phenomenon, K-pop, can drive tourists’ preferences and decision-making.

Guests book through OTAs, direct websites, GDS platforms and even social media, depending on their needs. As such, a narrow focus risks missing potential customers who favor alternative channels.

Destinations in the North such as Iceland, Finland, Norway have become more popular in the recent years. Instead of picking tropical each getaways, some tourists prefer to travel to cold places in the winter months. What is there to it to the “cold is the new hot” travel tendency of some tourists?Digital communication and Marketing expert Dr. Alessandro Inversini and Lionel Saul, research assistant at EHL, and Urs Binggeli, Senior travel expert at McKinsey, weigh in on the motivations and reasons behind this phenomenon.

Kaplan and Haenlein (2010) noted that social media is collaborative, dynamic, and interactive online applications, platforms, and media, which allows the creation and exchange of user-generated content on social media platforms.