Hospitality executives on foundations before AI, industry readiness

At Phocuswright Europe 2026, executives from Cendyn, HomeToGo, and Penta Hotels discussed how hotels and vacation rentals are navigating rapid AI developments. Simon Matthews, Group CTO of HomeToGo, said the rapid evolution is exhausting and requires separating hype from value creation. Fritz Müller of Cendyn emphasized starting with the basics, such as discoverability and operational implications. Ksenia Tarasova of Penta Hotels believes hotels are not ready for AI and should first clean up past errors.