Weekly Insights. January 31, 2026

Own the right guest: The new luxury resort strategy

The article suggests luxury resorts should stop chasing every traveler and instead “own the right guest.” That means identifying high fit segments with strong lifetime value, shaping experiences and packages around what they truly want, and prioritizing profit over raw occupancy. It recommends using clean first party data to target and price smarter, steering demand to direct channels, and aligning sales, marketing, and revenue teams on the same profit goals and KPIs so the resort attracts fewer but better guests, spends less to acquire them, and earns more across the stay.

AI and the next wave of hotel technology

The article explains how AI is reshaping hotel tech, moving from single tools to connected systems that help with pricing, forecasting, and personalized service. It highlights uses like chat and voice assistants, smarter demand and staffing forecasts, and predictive maintenance, all powered by cleaner data and strong integrations with PMS and other core systems. It also stresses change management, clear goals, and careful ROI tracking so new technology improves profit and guest experience, not just adds complexity.

Turning low season into high impact on your hotel website

The article explains how to use your website to turn low season into results by personalizing messages and offers for likely travelers, highlighting local events and value adds, and timing nudges to drive extra nights. It recommends tailoring content by audience, using smart banners and on page prompts in the booking flow, testing headlines and visuals, and pairing promotions with flexible terms so visitors feel confident to book. With clear tracking and quick iteration, small changes during quieter months can lift conversion, length of stay, and total revenue.

Digital hotel directory: The secret to smoother guest stays

The article explains how a digital hotel directory improves the guest journey by putting all key information and requests in one place. Guests can find hours, menus, amenities, and local tips, make requests, book services, and get alerts without calling the front desk. For hotels, it cuts printing costs, keeps details up to date in real time, reduces routine questions, supports multiple languages, and opens simple upsell paths for things like late checkout, spa, or dining, leading to smoother stays and more revenue.

10 ways hotels can increase direct bookings in 2026

The article lays out practical ways for hotels to grow direct bookings in 2026 by improving website speed, mobile experience, and a simple booking flow, strengthening first party data and personalization, keeping content complete for SEO and AI discovery, and using metasearch with accurate live rates. It recommends clear direct booking benefits, price integrity with parity monitoring, social proof from reviews, smart remarketing and email, and constant testing of messages and layouts so more visitors convert without relying on intermediaries.

Accor launches app in ChatGPT to compete for early bookings

Skift reports that Accor has launched an Accor app inside ChatGPT so travelers can ask for hotels in natural language, see public and member rates, and then finish the booking on Accor’s site. The app works in more than twenty languages where ChatGPT apps are supported and is meant to capture guests earlier in the planning stage, not replace existing channels. Accor frames this as part of a broader push to meet customers in AI driven search and to strengthen loyalty.

Gmail’s Gemini era: What it means for hotel email marketing

The article says Gmail is using Gemini AI to rank emails by relevance and engagement, so delivery no longer guarantees visibility. For hotels this means cleaning lists, segmenting by guest needs, sending fewer but more valuable messages, and tracking engagement closely. Good authentication still matters, but the inbox now rewards senders who earn attention with useful, personalized content.

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