Chinese commerce firm Alibaba's artificial intelligence arm A.I. Labs has created a hotel robot that also can be used in hospitals, restaurants and offices. The porter-tron will be capable of anything from delivering meals to guests and returning laundry—while interacting with customers through voice command prompts, touch and hand gestures.

Smart speakers, like Google Home and Amazon Echo, aren't going away--which means new opportunities for voice search. Brands should act now to stay on top.

Europe’s H-Hotels Group has partnered with Duetto to maximize profitability across its portfolio of 61 properties in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, ahead of expansion into other European destinations.

Marriott Maracay Golf Resort, a luxury property situated in central Venezuela, has partnered with Assa Abloy Hospitality to implement the latest industry standards in security access technology. With the installation now complete, the property has advanced security functionality with VingCard Signature RFID door locks, Elsafe Zenith electronic safes and the Visionline access-management solution.

Nordic Choice Hotels, one of the largest hotel groups in Scandinavia with 190 properties, is the Nordic and Baltic region master franchisee of Choice Hotels International.

Expense manager Nexonia has stamped its ticket into the travel booking space with the launch of the Nexonia Travel platform. The first significant product since Nexonia merged with Certify in June 2017, Nexonia Travel marks a major step in the combined company's efforts to serve larger corporate clients and challenge Concur's dominance in the T&E management market.

Choice Hotels International has launched a virtual payment option on ChoiceHotels.com to create a seamless booking experience for corporate travellers, becoming the first hotel company to adopt this payment method on its consumer-facing website.

Before the internet turned the hotel industry on its head, wholesalers and bedbanks were the backbone of room distribution, Hotels sold their rooms to a wholesaler, who sold them to a travel agency, who sold them to the end customer.

HNN recaps 5 things to know from 2008 with repurposed stories as part of its look back at 10 years of the hotel industry.

These days we often take finding directions for granted. Easy smartphone apps like Google Maps and Waze all but make paper maps and standalone GPS devices obsolete. Why then hasn't mapping found its way indoors? Historically, companies used sensors (commonly referred to as beacons) to accomplish the task, but hardware becomes obsolete quickly, battery maintenance is a challenge, and staffing is required to manage it all. Bottom line, these solutions haven't scaled and provided the necessary accuracy to deliver a tangible return on investment or any compelling use cases.The Walt Disne World Swan and Dolphin (S&D) property wants to change that paradigm in the hospitality industry, through a partnership with Mist Systems and TurnoutNow. Together, they plan to utilize Wi-Fi and Bluetooth Low Energy technology (BLE), artificial intelligence (AI), and virtualization to provide robust and flexible wayfinding and location-based services to guests.

Analyst to find insights in unused data Adobe Analytics this morning announced Virtual Analyst, a new AI assistant tool that will uncover new insights from the 97-99% of untouched data.

The second half of the year has stable rates and bookings across all travel segments, up 1.8% in ADR and 0.51% in bookings in the third quarter when compared to the prior year, according to new data from TravelClick’s August 2018 North American Hospitality Review (NAHR). Group travel in Q3 is also up 1.81% in ADR and 0.5% in bookings, and the transient segment overall is up 1.8% in ADR and 0.52% in bookings in the same time period.

Global hotel rates are expected to increase 1 to 3 percent in 2019 in most markets around the world, according to the 2019 Industry Forecast recently released by business travel management company BCD Travel. The increase in hotel rates is largely due to demand growth slightly outpacing supply in most markets.

Kitchen CUT are excited to be exhibiting their cutting edge F&B Management Software at this year's Restaurant and Bar Tech Live at Excel, London on 25th and 26th September. As the largest show of its kind in the industry, visitors will be able to see, test, discover, and experience the latest and greatest products and technology, making it the perfect forum for industry experts and professionals to see the Kitchen CUT system in action, talk to the team and learn more about the way it can save both time and money, whilst increasing profits.

An estimated 73 airlines made a whopping US$47.2 billion in extra revenue from a wide range of à la carte, commission-based, and frequent flyer related activities, representing 9.6% of total sales for these carriers.

Following a call from the European Commission and European Union consumer authorities to align its terms and conditions with EU consumer rules and to improve pricing transparency, Airbnb has initiated several changes to its services.

A feature in the iPhones that Apple unveiled this month could drastically reduce high international mobile roaming charges, a major hidden cost of business travel. The Apple XS, XS Max and XR phones include embedded subscriber identification modules, or eSIMs. Price per minute of talk time on foreign trips typically is measured in dollars rather than cents, but an eSIM allows the user to download a local calling plan when he or she arrives.

Most of Flight Centre's acquisitions to date have been about adding market share and a broader international footprint, but the Australian company is now looking for tech advantages. It's hoping Canadian itinerary management platform Umapped will raise its game.

The new bean-to-cup machine WMF 1500 S+ from the Geislingen-based coffee machine manufacturer combines the technological sophistication of a high-performance automatic machine with the requirements of a medium-sized coffee output.

As National Food Safety Month continues, we’re focusing on the responsibility restaurateurs have in making sure the technology their customers use when dining out is clean and safe to use.

As another deadline for state Real ID compliance creeps closer, Department of Homeland Security officials are hoping travelers and traveler buyers start paying more attention to the "real" deadline looming just a bit farther in the distance.

Choice Hotels International has launched a virtual payment option on ChoiceHotels.com to create a seamless booking experience for corporate travelers, becoming the first hotel company to adopt this payment method on its consumer-facing website, the company said.

Business travellers are increasingly using ride-hailing services such as Uber and Lyft, as well as local competitors, according to travel management company BCD Travel.

The Loews Universal Aventura Hotel in Orlando, Fla., Universal theme park’s newest hotel, marks the U.S. debut of DigiValet’s in-room technology. For guests at the resort, DigiValet provides its standard luxury connectivity, allowing guests to control their entire in-room environment with the swipe of a finger and it also connects all guests to the park seamlessly via a bedside iPad.

Upscale serviced apartments in the Philippines, Makati Diamond Residences, has improved online sales with efficient rate and availability distribution through RateTiger. The property offering 410 apartments has been using RateTiger Channel Manager and Shopper to manage online sales channels in real-time.

Dubai's Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM) will be the destination partner for HITEC Dubai 2018 - the world’s largest hospitality Technology Exhibition and Conference brand.