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3 weeks ago | 
hotel-online.com | Caroline Palmer |Mark Fancourt
In an industry as dynamic and interconnected as hospitality and travel, the relentless pace of technological evolution isn’t merely a trend to observe; its a force demanding strategic foresight and a proactive, rather than reactive, stance.
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2 months ago | 
hospitalitynet.org | Max Starkov |Ira Vouk |Mark Fancourt |Alessandro Crotti
A recent heated discussion on LinkedIn was a clash between two schools of thought regarding direct online distribution in hospitality. One school of thought representatives claim that they "really don't understand the whole thing about direct booking and loyalty… " They further claim that travelers are loyal to and trust OTA platforms like Booking..com, Expedia, Airbnb, etc.
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Feb 20, 2025 | 
hospitalitynet.org | Max Starkov |Frederic Gonzalo |Mark Fancourt |Erik Muñoz
Lately, there have been a lot headlines that traditional Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is dead due to the rise of AI Search via the generative AI platforms ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, etc. Some experts herald the end of Google's monopoly on search and claim that traditional SEO practices are obsolete.
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Feb 14, 2025 | 
hospitalitynet.org | Henri Roelings |Henri Roelings Founder |Mark Fancourt |Nick Slavin
In the wake of Google CEO Sundar Pichai’s recent assertion that their upcoming Gemini AI aims to become a “universal AI agent” useful in everyday life, hoteliers are asking a pivotal question: How can they prepare for personal AI agents that promise to transform the travel and hospitality landscape?
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Feb 14, 2025 | 
hitec.org | Mark Fancourt |Nick Slavin |Max Starkov |Jason Bryant
7 min read HITEC Booth #2154 In the wake of Google CEO Sundar Pichai’s recent assertion that their upcoming Gemini AI aims to become a“universal AI agent” useful in everyday life, hoteliers are asking a pivotal question: How can they prepare for personal AI agents that promise to transform the travel and hospitality landscape?
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Feb 11, 2025 | 
hospitalitynet.org | Max Starkov |Mark Fancourt |Nick Slavin |Jason Bryant
Recently Google's CEO Sundar Pichai proclaimed that the ultimate goal of their Gemini AI is the creation of a "universal AI agent that will be useful in everyday life."There have been heated discussions in the media about the expected rise in 2025 of the personal AI agents and their impact on travel and hospitality distribution. The presumption is that AI agents can research, plan and book travelers' vacations autonomously, thus circumventing OTAs and other intermediaries.
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Feb 4, 2025 | 
hospitalitynet.org | Simone Puorto |Mark Fancourt |Max Starkov |Linchi Kwok
The hospitality industry is at a crossroads. Overregulation, introduced under the banners of fairness and privacy, has unintentionally crippled hotels' ability to track performance and make data-driven decisions. The fragmented nature of hotel tech stacks, with separate systems for websites and booking engines, compounds the issue. Often requiring users to opt in twice, this setup leaves up to 2/3 of booking engine traffic untracked as users refuse or ignore cookie consent prompts.
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Jan 30, 2025 | 
hospitalitynet.org | Henri Roelings |Henri Roelings Founder |Max Starkov |Mark Fancourt
A recent discussion on Hospitality Net’s World Panel has reignited the debate over whether differentiating hotel pricing based on a traveler’s geographic location is a prudent revenue management strategy or an ethically fraught practice.
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Jan 23, 2025 | 
hospitalitynet.org | Simone Puorto |Max Starkov |Mark Fancourt |Michael Toedt
As automation, robotics, and AI continue to advance at breakneck speed, the role of digital workers is reshaping industries across the board. Take Amazon, for instance: robots now account for nearly half of its workforce, with over 750,000 robotic units working alongside 1.55 million human employees. Unlike Amazon's efficiency-focused model, however, our industry thrives on human connection and personalized service.
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Nov 19, 2024 | 
hospitalitynet.org | Max Starkov |Adam Mogelonsky |Mark Fancourt |Erik Muñoz
Last week ChatGPT launched its much awaited search engine, allowing for the first time its users to get the latest information and content available on the Internet. ChatGPT is not the first generative AI company to try and rival Google with an AI-powered search engine.
