#Trending This Week - A Robotic Housekeeper Is On The Job, Consumers Are Heading Overseas, A New Profit Center For Hotels, And This Room Category Is In Big Demand
Issue 146 • June 20, 2023
With summer arriving tomorrow, the peak travel season for many destinations is causing some concern — will the numbers be good? Can the airlines handle the demand? Will weather wreak havoc on flight schedules? Will there be enough staff to handle the volume? And so on. Only time will tell. This week we’re looking at the room categories that are in high demand right now. The destinations consumers are booking for summer travel. How AI has entered the hospitality industry. And a potential new profit center for hotels. Check it all out in our three-minute read below.
Suites And Connecting Rooms Are In High Demand
Many hotels are reporting a 20% increase in bookings for suites or connecting rooms. Why? A multitude of reasons including more gatherings by multigenerational families and large groups of friends, and continued flexibility from hybrid work and travelers bringing family members along on business trips. There has also been a noticeable shift away from vacation home rentals as consumers prefer more predictable lodging. Read details in The Wall Street Journal here.
Consumers Are Traveling Overseas This Summer
Data from Virtuoso is showing that while the US is still the number one travel destination for summer, consumers are pulling out their passports in record numbers as domestic travel is down 12% as compared to last year. And the good news is that travel is still a hot ticket: overall, 2023 bookings are 62% higher than last year and 91% higher than 2019 leading into 2020. And what’s the number one international travel destination? Find out in Travel Weekly here.
Can Water Be A Future Profit Center?
Hotels and travel businessses have lost out on the ability to make bank from phone calls and WiFi fees, so where do you go for new revenue streams? The answer might be clearer than you think: water. With the many conflicting conversations over whether there are hidden dangers in existing water supplies AND the banning of single-use plastics, many are seeing this as an opportunity for hotels to get creative as they seek new ways to provide water to guests — some of which could indeed be quite marketable and justify a higher price tag. Read more in HospitalityNet here.
An AI Robotic Housekeeper Arrives
A five-star hotel in Switzerland is claiming to have an AI Robotic Housekeeper. And while we can understand the allure of having help when many properties can’t seem to find enough housekeeping staff, it seems that this “housekeeper” doesn’t really do more than vacuum and wash floors. When they’ve designed a robotic housekeeper to make beds and clean toilets, then I think the industry will take notice. Read more in Insider Travel Report here.