🎰 Wynn Resorts Hackers Demand $1.5M in Bitcoin

Tired of hotel loyalty programs that just hand out points and discounts? So were the 1,496 distinctive properties that joined Journey in just seven months including Castle Hill Inn, NIHI Sumba, and Dunton Hot Springs.

Journey takes a different approach. Instead of training guests to wait for deals, it helps independent hotels build real loyalty with personalized, meaningful rewards that reflect each property’s unique brand.

Journey is a global alliance of independent hotels united by character, experience, and a shared loyalty engine that grows revenue without discounting.

👉 Discover how Journey helps you build loyalty on your terms

Wyndham Hotels & Resorts has moved AI from pilot to production across 5,000+ hotels, using its Wyndham Connect platform to handle 25% of guest inquiries and drive 885,000 upsell requests in 2025. One Howard Johnson property in Anaheim is generating over $10,000 per month in incremental upsell revenue. Meanwhile, global RevPAR declined 6% in Q4 and 3% for the full year.

🎯 Why it matters: While RevPAR is under pressure—especially in the U.S.—Wyndham is using AI to protect margins by cutting labor costs and creating new fee revenue streams. The strategy reframes AI not just as a booking tool, but as an operating profit lever for franchisees.

🔑 Key takeaway: For hotel owners, this signals that AI adoption is no longer experimental—it’s becoming embedded in brand platforms and directly impacting P&L. In a flat-to-down RevPAR environment for 2026, operators should focus less on demand growth and more on AI-driven cost reduction and ancillary revenue capture to defend profitability. Read More →

OpenAI launched OpenAI Frontier, a new platform aimed at helping enterprises build and manage AI agents, but COO Brad Lightcap admitted that AI still hasn’t deeply penetrated core enterprise business processes. While demand for OpenAI’s products is strong with over $20 billion in annualized revenue by end of 2025 real operational transformation inside complex organizations remains limited. OpenAI is now partnering with major consultancies to push AI deeper into enterprise workflows.

🎯 Why it matters: There’s been loud industry talk that AI agents would replace SaaS, but even OpenAI still heavily relies on traditional tools like Slack — signaling SaaS isn’t going anywhere. The real battle isn’t model capability; it’s integrating AI into messy, multi-system, team-based enterprise workflows.

🔑 Key takeaway: Hoteliers should treat AI as enterprise infrastructure, not just a gadget. That means defining clear business processes before applying AI, building integration pathways (via APIs and unified data layers), and measuring impact on revenue, cost, and guest satisfaction. The winners will be those who operationalize AI deeply and lean into vendor technical expertise rather than trying to do it on their own. Read More →

Wynn Resorts disclosed that an unauthorized third party obtained certain employee data and demanded 22.34 bitcoin (about $1.5 million). The company says it has launched an investigation with external cybersecurity experts and, so far, has seen no evidence the stolen data has been published or misused. Wynn also stated the breach has not impacted guest experience, operations, or its physical properties.

🎯 Why it matters: This is another example of hospitality companies being targeted for employee data, not just guest information or operational systems. Even when guest-facing systems remain untouched, ransom demands in the seven-figure range show how financially motivated and organized these attacks have become.

🔑 Key takeaway: For hotel operators, It’s all about strong processes, MFA everywhere, vetted vendors, and a real incident response plan aren’t optional — they’re survival tools. This reinforces that back-office systems and employee records are just as much a target as PMS or booking engines. Owners should confirm their management companies have incident response plans, external cybersecurity partners on retainer, and clear protocols for handling ransom demands—because attackers are explicitly monetizing stolen HR data now. Read More →

✅ Duetto: Maximize hotel room revenue using real-time pricing and demand data.

✅ Journey Rewards: Drive repeat visits & upsell revenue with targeted perks and rewards.

✅ Triptease: Drive higher direct booking revenue with data-led pricing, targeting, and messaging.

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

✅ MeetingPackage: Simplify MICE bookings and boost event revenue.

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

1️⃣ The Future of Hotel Loyalty: What Top Independents Are Betting On

Dive into how a new loyalty ecosystem is helping boutique properties reclaim guest relationships and boost direct revenue — and see if your brand is a fit to join the Journey Alliance.

2️⃣ See How Linchris Hotels Transformed Hospitality Operations with Canary

Learn how ChatGPT and similar tools are fundamentally changing the way guests plan their trips and discover hotels and how you can secure visibility and bookings today.

3️⃣ How Strawberry Rebuilt Event Sales Around the Guest, Not the Process

Learn how Strawberry Hotels automated their group bookings to achieve transformative results. This transformation lead the hotel owner to faster booking times, less administrative tasks and a smoother booking experience for guests.

✈️ Soaring hotel rates push trips out of reach in travel becoming a luxury for middle-class Americans

🎲 Forbes weighs in on what’s inside venture capital’s massive bet on hospitality

🎥 Creators face monetization strain as generative tools flood platforms in AI-driven content saturation debate.

👀 New data shows how AI is being used by guests to book hotels

🤖 Gartner researchers say AI hasn’t displaced many jobs yet

📊 Q4 2025 results show hotel earnings stabilizing as RevPAR growth cools

💻 Perplexity challenges OpenClaw by launching its own managed AI agent

🧠 Hotel chain agentic AI booking plans spark OTA impact debate

💼 Hospitality dealmaking rebounds in H2 2025 transactions surge

🛎️ Hotels adopt upsell platforms in ancillary tech transformation push.

📈 Booking Holdings solid 2025 full-year earnings but stock down 30%

🌍 Air France and Accor agree to penalties after missing climate targets

💰 Happyhotel secures €6.5M Series A funding to scale AI revenue management

🏦 Rising rates make lenders question whether private credit can still prop up hotels

🇪🇺 EU hotel investment tops €27B as investors return to the sector

📦 Accor emphasizes expanding fee-based offerings in post-results strategy update

🤝 OpenAI partners with global consultancies in Frontier Alliances push to accelerate enterprise AI deployment

What if 70% of your guests are willing to upgrade—but your pricing strategy is leaving that revenue on the table? In this episode, Erik Tengen, President of Hospitality at Plusgrade and former co-founder of Oaky, explains why the future of hotel profitability isn’t RevPAR—it’s total revenue, frictionless upselling, and becoming “agent-ready."

Experienced hotel operators, GMs, commercial leaders, and ownership groups focused on driving profit—not just topline revenue—in an increasingly AI-driven distribution landscape.

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

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