🏨 Airbnb's Chesky predicts billions in hotel revenue

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Airbnb is making a decisive move: it now sees hotels as its third core business—joining homes and experiences. CEO Brian Chesky said that “services, experiences and hotels can each be multi-billion‐dollar businesses.” He also flagged that Airbnb’s annual agenda will include at least one new business each year.

🎯 Why it matters: Airbnb is positioning hotels not just as add-on supply, but as a strategic front in its broader ecosystem: offering lower commission rates and access to Airbnb’s high-intent, travel-first audience. Plus, the site now allows travelers to browse all of a hotel’s room types on the same property page. At the same time, hotels must contend with Airbnb’s ambition to blur lines between homes and hotels, making distribution and channel dynamics more complex.

🔑 Key takeaway: For hotel executives, Airbnb’s latest pivot makes one thing clear: the platform is no longer just for short-term rentals—it’s becoming a mainstream hotel distribution channel. Listing on Airbnb now means access to a massive, loyalty-driven audience seeking unique, design-forward stays rather than pure budget options. Hotels that haven’t yet explored the platform should revisit that decision, especially independents and soft brands looking to diversify beyond OTAs. As Airbnb courts hotels more aggressively, early adopters may gain prime visibility before competition saturates. Read More →

The travel and payments landscape just gained a major upgrade: Stripe and OpenAI have launched an “agentic payments” framework that enables AI agents to complete purchase flows—hotel bookings included—directly in chat interfaces. The initiative, powered by the Agentic Commerce Protocol, allows merchants to integrate once and be reachable via multiple AI agents, while still controlling payment, data and fulfillment.

🎯 Why it matters: This development means that hotels may soon see guest journeys begin and end in AI environments rather than OTAs or brand sites. The traditional distribution funnel is under threat: when an AI-agent can recommend, request and pay for a hotel stay—all inside a chat interface—the brand becomes less central. Hotels must ensure they’re optimized for agentic discovery and seamless transaction workflows, or risk being bypassed altogether.

🔑 Key takeaway: Hoteliers should treat agentic payments as a strategic opportunity. Begin by exposing your inventory, pricing and checkout flows via machine-readable APIs, and ensure your tech stack can support agent-driven transactions. Evaluating partnerships with platforms like Stripe/OpenAI, or building your own agent-ready infrastructure, could unlock new direct booking channels. Read More →

A new report found that specialized “best-in-class” systems (which are built to excel at a specific function like PMS, CRM, or RMS) are increasingly outperforming “all-in-one” platforms that try to bundle everything into a single ecosystem. 30% of all-in-one users said they plan to switch to best-in-class stacks (compared with only 14% moving the other direction). All-in-one systems also saw higher guest-experience issues (57% booking errors vs. 45%), while best-in-class users reported significantly higher satisfaction (70% PMS satisfaction vs. 55%).

🎯 Why it matters: As hotels seek scalability, agility, and tech-driven performance, relying on one giant platform isn’t cutting it. Stacked, modular systems (especially those optimized for integration and use-case depth!) are winning out. For hotel operators, this signals the end of “set-it-and-forget-it” tech. The next phase of digital maturity requires curating interoperable tools that deliver flexibility without sacrificing guest experience.

🔑 Key takeaway: Hotel leaders should take a hard look at their current tech architecture. If your all-in-one platform limits innovation or creates guest-experience inefficiencies, it may be time to adopt a best-in-class strategy: modular, integrated systems that can evolve with your property’s needs. The right stack isn’t just about more features; it’s about future-proofing your operations and guest experience. Read More →

✅ Cendyn: Grow group sales with a B2B CRM and sales automation platform.

✅ Hapi: Fix messy guest data to personalize stays and boost bookings.

✅ Tripleseat: Manage hotel group bookings, catering and event sales with AI.

✅ Cloudbeds: All-in-one hotel management software at the speed of AI.

✅ Canary Technologies: Powerful but simple AI powered digital guest journey platform.

✅ Actabl: Turn powerful BI data into actionable insights that maximize profits.

✅ Ivvy: Elevate venue bookings, manage events, and track revenue easily.

✅ Clickmaint: Simplify maintenance tasks with user-friendly software for hotel operations.

✅ ROH: Automate sales and finance to save time and capture more revenue.

✅ Hireology: Find and hire reliable staff faster to fill key hotel roles.

✅ Vouchercart: Turn gift vouchers into prepaid revenue across rooms, dining, and spa.

💥 Sonder will file for bankruptcy after losing its Marriott partnership, marking the end for one of hospitality’s most-hyped startups.

🏛️ Hotels face mounting strain from the U.S. government shutdown, with lost federal travel and delayed payments hitting key markets.

🏡 Airbnb’s latest results show profits up on global demand, offsetting a slowdown in U.S. bookings.

🚀 Amenitiz raised $45M to scale its “Shopify for hotels” model, intensifying competition in the SMB tech space.

🌏 Klook’s planned IPO signals strong investor confidence in the fast-growing tours and experiences market.

☀️ Hilton hit 100% renewable energy across its U.S. hotels, setting a new standard for sustainability in hospitality.

🥗 Hotels are using AI to cut food waste with new tools that reduce emissions and improve margins.

📊 Hyatt’s Q3 showed strong leisure travel but softer business demand, plus cost savings after AI drove job cuts.

📱 TikTok’s David Hoctor urged travel brands to prioritize speed and authenticity over polish in short-form video.

👥 Industry leaders argue the future lies in guest relationships, not channels—personalization will outlast platforms.

📱 Apple’s digital wallet is fueling a surge in travel spending as mobile payments gain traction across booking and on-property purchases.

🤝 RateGain finalizes Sojern acquisition merges ad tech and AI, strengthening its position in data-driven guest acquisition.

🤖 Expedia’s record quarter was driven by AI and B2B growth, underscoring the power of automation.

Did you know 30–40% of guest calls to hotels go unanswered? In this episode, Harman Singh Narula, CEO and co-founder of Canary Technologies, shares how his team is tackling this operational gap while redefining the entire digital guest journey—backed by $80M in funding and multiple HotelTechAwards wins.

This episode is for veteran hoteliers, brand executives, and asset managers who want to understand where guest-facing technology is headed and how AI-driven innovations, tipping solutions, and digital workflows can translate into higher revenue and better guest satisfaction.

Episode Highlights:

👉🏼 Check out the interview on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

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