News & Stories

Aachen. It was a bit like futuristic speed dating. At the two-day symposium "Smart Building Solutions 2019" in the Smart Logistics Cluster of RWTH Aachen University, scientists, start-ups, project developers and investors presented innovative solutions for smart buildings, sustainable neighbourhoods and how urban planning could look in the digital age. The conclusion here: Alone was yesterday, today the motto is: Together we are stronger. An excursion into a future that is already closer than many believe.

Amsterdam. Digitalisation is among the Dutch Zoku's focus on added value. The hybrid brand, born in 2016, embodies the spirit of innovation and experimentation of its founders Hans Meyer and Marc Jongerius. This week they have brought Jens Gmiat on board as Head of Operations, the former COO of Ruby Hotels. On the sidelines of an event, Marc Jongerius explained the principles of Zoku's digital concept which has turned into "an exciting digital transformation project, defining our entire digital and data landscape for all future developments".

Madrid. New research identifies the beginning of the end for room types as a key trend of the future. Other drivers of change in hospitality are the rise of tech-augmented hospitality and emotions connected to brands.

Berlin/Frankfurt. With its new next-generation retailing approach, Sabre Hospitality will in future enable hoteliers to offer individual hotel services in a more flexible and personalized way - and thus generate additional sales, even without booking a room. The vision and development of this next frontier for the future of hospitality will be presented at the 2nd HospitalityInside Think Tank in two and a half weeks in Berlin.

Siers. The online booking channels continue to grow in the Swiss hotel industry. OTAs such as Booking and Expedia are profiting, they generated 28% of the overnight stays last year. The average annual commissions paid by Swiss hotels to OTAs are estimated to amount to 61,000 CHF per hotel.

Milan. In Italy, analogue travellers are rapidly becoming an endangered species. OTAs and customers are using their smartphones to search for information and book transportation, but slowly the devices are also being used for payments. However, hotel receptions still play a fundamental role during holidays.

Bad Arolsen. "Our new hotels will have a digital infrastructure," Alexander Fitz said, CEO of the German H-Hotels Group. For this, the company, which today counts 60 hotels operating under six brands, has created its own "lab": a small 25-room hotel in which in-room systems are tested for their feasibility in practice. And there are some surprises. The lab is the Hotel Brunnenhaus Schloss Landau – which also belongs to H-Hotels Group and is not far away from the company headquarters in Bad Arolsen.

Macao/Berlin. The 4,000-room Sheraton Grand Macao was the reason that Stefan Renziehausen began to think about chatbots. Communication with thousands of guests in such an enormous hotel complex presented a special challenge. For this reason, he developed a Virtual Assistant, which he programmed from the perspective of the hotel – and not from that of a tech-expert. SABAGuestRequest made its début in mid-March in a large hotel in Kuala Lumpur. The VA can answer questions in six languages, take bookings and sound out guest satisfaction. Push messages make lots of things easier.

Augsburg. Innovative, funny and frightening things from the digital world. Today: AI seal of approval / Alibaba's FlyZoo Hotel / Crypto currency for trading / Chatbot on Facebook / Ghost restaurants / E-Textiles on the rise / New Deal for Consumers / Robot judge under test / US law for face recognition.

Berlin. The introduction of Artificial Intelligence and machine learning is revolutionizing jobs in the hospitality industry. Tech-savvy hotel groups are keen on innovation: At Hilton, 20% of the guests' engagement is done via chatbot today. "Automation is a triple win situation for the hotel owner, the customer and the brand," explains Sabre Hospitality Solutions convinced. Customers are ready to pay more if they get personalized service.