Revenue Management & Channel Opt

Following the pandemic, the meetings and events industry has seen a noticeable shift in destination preferences. Major cities—long the epicenters for conferences, meetings, and events—are facing increasing competition from secondary cities.

The knowledge and skills transfer from faculty to students forms the core of what education is all about. One of the most rewarding and important roles in a school is played by the department that strives to support those on the front line of education delivery: the teachers. Welcome to the role of faculty development!

At BTO 2024, Simone Puorto surprised the audience with a groundbreaking presentation: his keynote was entirely delivered by a digital clone created with advanced AI technologies. This avatar, built from 25 years of personal and professional content, perfectly replicated not only his communication style but also his voice, gestures, and signature provocative and philosophical approach. A concrete demonstration of AI’s potential, the presentation pushed the hospitality industry to reflect on the future of human-artificial interaction. Below is an exclusive interview in which Simone shares how his digital clone project came to life and the implications this innovation could have for the future.

When was the last time your hotel staff had data security training? The speed at which cyber criminals adapt their tactics can be frightening, and the only way to keep your business – and your guests – safe is to regularly retrain your team in the latest best practices for security.

For this, new creative methods are essential for hospitality to leverage teaching excellence based on the transfer of knowledge among professionals, i.e., experts from the industry who wish to expand their professional skills to include practical facilitation and teaching.

Let’s cut through the noise for a moment. AI is not just hype anymore—it’s the biggest shift in tech since the internet made floppy disks obsolete.

As a lodging industry training provider, we receive an extraordinarily high number of inquiries for guest service training specific to the topic areas of “handling guest complaints” and “service recovery.” While it is always great to see interest in these topics, we always prefer to deliver a more comprehensive approach to hospitality and guest services training that better serves all stakeholders.

Question 1 from Dr. Fred DeMicco: John, tell us about your cruise career journey, how it started, the cruise leadership experiences you have had? John’s response: My career in the cruise industry happened accidentally and was actually my third career.

As 2025 approaches, boutique and design hotel groups—especially those balancing bustling city center hotels with countryside or beach properties—face a pivotal moment. Are you prioritizing profitability, guest relationships, and autonomy? Or are you still overly reliant on OTAs like Booking.com, whose high costs and unpredictable policies might be eating into your bottom line? It’s time to rethink your approach and chart a smarter path toward sustainable success.

From AI-powered room service that knows your guest’s favorite midnight snack to chatbots that give travel advice like a seasoned globetrotter, artificial intelligence (AI) in hospitality is like having a unicorn in your hotel garden. You can use it to attract customers, wow them with unique, personalized experiences, and learn more about your business and customers to stay ahead of the game. Whether you’re running a hotel, restaurant or travel service, AI is the technological assistant that can set you and your brand apart.