Skift Pro Columns tips

Since Sébastian Bazin became its CEO in 2013, Accor has had a series of transformations and done a lot of acquisitions, such as Mövenpick, Fairmont, and Mantra, and joint ventures, such as Ennismore.

Wyndham is the world’s largest hotel franchisor, and we found a handful of noteworthy details in its annual 10-K filing.

Since ChatGPT was released last November, several other well-funded companies have released their own versions in an effort to compete. 

Just about everyone has heard of Airbnb. 

Hoteliers are now in the middle of 2023 budgeting. It’s a tricky task given the uncertain forecasts.

Before the pandemic hit, hotels had spent roughly 2.5 percent of revenue on new technologies. The size of that investment dropped during the pandemic.

Big Tech companies are laying off tens of thousands of people. 

As well as working on a futuristic Atari Hotel, leading hotel architect Tom Ito is starting to see new design trends that are directly related to the pandemic.

Opinions vary widely about the state of investment in the travel tech startup world during this uncertain economic time, but one thing is for sure: it’s changing.

The hotel tech startup Mews has completed five acquisitions in the past three years. Its CEO, Richard Valtr, told Skift last week that there are two more underway. 

Verint provides customer service software to roughly 40 airline clients, among those other verticals. The Long Island, New York-based company is still gaining new airline business, but much of it is coming from existing customers. 

Several big-name hotel companies have entered 2023 with tech partnerships to modernize operations and services. 

Before the pandemic, the tech startup ResortPass had partnered with a little more than 100 hotels, offering a software platform that can book guests for day use of their amenities. 

Southwest’s debacle late last year was extreme, but mass cancellations are not unheard of in the industry. Actually, they seem to be somewhat common. 

Michelle Russo has a broad perspective on the hotel sector from her position as CEO and founder of HotelAVE (Asset Value Enhancement), a hotel real estate asset manager and advisor.

Omni Hotels & Resorts isn’t your father’s hospitality group — literally and figuratively speaking.

Adam Goldstein, former co-founder of travel price comparison service Hipmunk, said this week that he is shutting down his latest travel tech startup and leaving the industry. 

Andreas Scriven is the lead partner for the hospitality and leisure practice at Deloitte UK and Deloitte NS Europe. Scriven has an interesting perspective on European hotel deals and development.

In an effort to accelerate tech innovation in travel, Hotelbeds is putting out a call to startup founders with ideas that could solve problems in the industry. 

It was a stellar hotel earnings season. Demand remains strong, and pricing remains robust, according to groups reporting their financial performance in February 2023.

I wanted an update on BWH Hotel Group, the parent company of Best Western Hotels & Resorts. So I spoke with Larry Cuculic, president and CEO since late 2021.