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11 updates.
11 updates shown
PREHOST released a Hotel Website Infrastructure Resilience Checklist, based on Google CrUX data from 17 million websites, to help independent hotel and PMC tech leads evaluate web hosting performance, backup protocols, and vendor SLAs. The checklist covers seven areas including real-world server responsiveness, security edge, disaster recovery, SLAs and redundancy, and vendor transparency.
Square and Toast expanded their integrations with Google, bringing US restaurant operators into Ask Maps, Google Maps' conversational AI interface. Built on the Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP), diners can discover, customize, and complete orders via natural language prompts while operators maintain control over menus, pricing, and first-party guest relationships. Orders flow directly into operators' workflows, bypassing third-party commissions.
The MURTEC Executive Summit, scheduled for October 21-23 at Loews Coronado Bay Resort near San Diego, will feature Dr. Eric Solomon, a former Google and Spotify executive, as keynote speaker. He will address senior restaurant technology, marketing, and operations executives on leading with intention in a digital world and adopting AI without losing human connection.
TikTok GO launched in the US in May 2026, allowing users to book hotels, tours, and experiences directly within the app, with partners including Booking.com, Expedia, Trip.com, and others. This shifts where hotel bookings begin, as travelers no longer need to leave the app. AI tools like ChatGPT and Google Gemini are also becoming entry points for travel planning and booking. This results in hotels losing first-party data, challenging loyalty programs. The article suggests hotels capture data at owned touchpoints and ensure loyalty value is clear within platforms.
PPHE Hotel Group, a £2.2 billion international hospitality real estate company, owns the art'otel brand and is the exclusive EMEA master licensee for Radisson's Park Plaza brand. Across 17 European properties, including a 1,000+ room flagship, the group is bypassing app stores by using a zero-download web experience, native Apple/Google Wallet room keys, self-service kiosks, and an open-API backend. This aims to reduce guest friction, address lobby congestion, and break down data silos. SVP of Technology Jawad Sabir explains the technical execution, including Bluetooth/RFID lock integration and a unified guest data layer.
A benchmark study by Americas Great Resorts (AGR) reveals serious issues with AI engines recommending hotels. The study tracked 824 recommendations across ChatGPT, Gemini, and Google AI Mode in six major U.S. markets, finding that AI recommendations are highly concentrated, with an average of just five hotels taking half of all recommendations. More critically, AI recommendations include closed hotels, such as the demolished Mandarin Oriental in Miami. The study indicates that AI search relies on document authority rather than entity facts, leading to stale information. It suggests hotel IT and marketing co-own data governance to optimize public entity records.
Amadeus has adjusted its 2026 guidance due to the Middle East conflict, lowering group revenue growth expectation from around 4.5% to around 2%. Air distribution revenue growth is now expected at low to mid-single digit. Q2 bookings fell 7.6%, but the company cites diversification as mitigating impact.
This week's travel tech news includes: Mindtrip partners with Meet Boston for AI trip planning; Hostaway launches AI CoHost; Pikl makes new appointments; TSA partners with Google Wallet for PreCheck Touchless ID; FlightHub adds hotel bookings; Arbitrip powers El Al's hotel booking platform; Travelport adds Air Canada Flight Pass support; Sun Group selects Amadeus loyalty solutions.
Holibob launched an AI-powered conversational booking platform that lets travelers describe their needs in natural language, get recommendations from over 500,000 tours and activities, and complete bookings. It integrates with Google Things to Do.
Sabre's president of product and engineering, Garry Wiseman, detailed the company's transformation into an AI-native enterprise at its Compass event in Los Angeles. Sabre has introduced APIs optimized for agentic AI use cases, enabling natural language queries for flights, hotels, and car rentals, and handling bookings and servicing. The company is collaborating with Google, PayPal, and Mindtrip, and facilitating around 70 AI projects. Wiseman emphasized that Sabre's scale, with over a billion shopping requests daily, provides a competitive edge in AI-driven travel distribution.
Video platforms are reshaping travelers' booking journeys, and hotels face a 'speed problem' as their technology systems struggle to keep up with changing consumer habits. A digital expert at Radisson Hotel Group highlighted that legacy operating models are ill-suited to the fast-evolving customer journey, necessitating integrated marketing, distribution, and revenue management, along with cultural change through partnerships.