Most tourist destinations are facing regular and consistent seasonality with significant economic and social impacts. This phenomenon is more pronounced in the post-covid era, where demand for travel has increased but unevenly among different geographic areas. To counter these problems that both customers and hoteliers are facing, we have developed two auctioning systems that allow hoteliers of lower popularity tier areas or during low season periods to auction their rooms in what we call a forward auction model, and also allows customers to initiate a bidding process whereby hoteliers in an area may make offers to the customer for their rooms, in what constitutes a reverse auction model initiated by the customer, similar to the bidding concept of priceline.com. We develop mathematical programming models that define explicitly both types of auctions, and show that in each type, there are significant benefits to be gained both on the side of the hotelier as well as on the side of the customer. We discuss algorithmic techniques for the approximate solution of these optimization problems, and present results using exact optimization solvers to solve them to guaranteed optimality. These techniques could be beneficial to both customer and hotelier reducing seasonality during middle and low season and providing the customer with attractive offers.

One of the best ways for hoteliers to engage guests is to offer them products and services that they'll covet – and willingly pay for. That's why upsells are vitally important, especially now as operators try to recover lost revenue. But the question remains: How do you pursue them without taxing already-stretched staff and resources? Artificial intelligence, or more specifically, machine learning (ML) makes it possible. ML technology is critical to upselling because it takes the guesswork out of what to offer when to offer it, and how to price it.

It's easier to talk about people, companies, or events than to talk about ideas. But one idea worth discussing, despite its complexity, is how artificial intelligence could reorder hotel distribution. Some researchers are wondering if artificial intelligence could handle some of the more complex tasks of shopping and haggling. Could new algorithms and processes shrink the role of travel search engines and comparison apps? Could the cost of bringing buyers and sellers together shrink thanks to technical innovations?

It's 2020, my name is Jack and I work at the front desk of a busy 3-star hotel at Amsterdam airport called the Grand Hotel (fictitious). Our clientele is the usual airport hotel clientele you would expect, crews, holidaymakers, business travelers, and in low season some tour groups. There are 300 rooms, and we have a large restaurant and a lobby bar as well as gym, meeting rooms etc. This morning was a particularly hard morning at checkout though. The car parking validator broke down and that just transcended us into a bad place.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is no longer becoming a part of our everyday lives, it already is. More consumers than not are living in smart homes and working in smart offices. The number of users of smart speakers like Amazon's Echo and Google Home is growing at a compound annual rate of 47.9 percent and between 2016 and 2020 is expected to grow from 16 million to 76.5 million. The hospitality industry is rapidly identifying ways to put AI into widespread use. With large sets of data becoming more prevalent and AI becoming more accessible, hotel marketers have the potential to transform how they operate to maximize returns, optimize processes and interact with guests for increased satisfaction and loyalty.

Technology is revolutionizing almost every facet of the hospitality industry. Chatbots and Voice-enabled devices, the innovative breakthroughs of Artificial Intelligence, are gaining traction among young travellers. It is estimated that by the year 2020, customers can manage 85% of their relationship with a brand effectively without even interacting with a human (Source: Gartner). This new norm is bringing a paradigm shift in how guests are communicating with the hotel. It also enables hoteliers to provide exemplary services that last forever in the minds of the guests.

From developing hyper-personalized guest experiences to identifying unrecognized revenue opportunities, AI empowers innovation and growth by distilling information and deducing patterns into actionable insights which in turn will generate better hotel bookings and ROI at the same time. With the inception of 21st century, myriads of industries that remain adamant to integrating new technological revolutions are most likely to revert in their general course of improvement. Numerous businesses across the world have perceived how important it is to include contemporary digital marketing and technology to attain constant revenue and growth. The last decade has actually seen incredible breakthroughs and innovations in the portrait of digital solutions which includes the hospitality sector as well. So, one of such compelling trend is overtaken by artificial intelligence which has become an inseparable part and parcel of a hotelier's life and time . In the mainstream culture AI is often misconceived as a replacement for human power, the concept of AI as a technological aid is much larger, pervasive, and wider.

AUSTIN, TX--As indicators prove the economy is getting stronger and consumers place a greater emphasis on experiences rather than products, there's a demand for travel. "In addition to strong economic variables and confident consumers with additional disposable incomes, consumer expectations play a major role in this summer's record-breaking travel season," said Noreen Henry, CEO of WayBlazer, a B2B travel technology company. The hotel industry is adopting advancements in technology that offer travelers convenience, ease of travel and digital access to the experiences they crave. "As brands within the travel space begin to adopt new technology, consumers are becoming much more likely to book trips. Consumers want convenience and personalization, and brands are meeting these demands through innovation," said Henry.

Our previous article on " Artificial Intelligence in Hotels " spoke about how AI can impact the operational processes and dynamics within the hospitality industry. This final article in the 3 part series will focus on using the inherent capability of AI along with predictive analytics and natural language processing to synchronize and optimize the entire information management system to deliver exceptional customer service. Intelligent hotel system is where all the data channels are linked together just like human arteries and veins, forming a superlative, productive and high-performance structure that resembles the future vision of automated hotel system. IoT-enabled connections of motion sensors, room control, and smart voice control are poised to change the way hotels function. Integration of IoT into intelligence-driven hotel operations will not only personalize hotel guest experience but also impact the business model of the hotel industry in the near future.

Often described as antiquated, hotel technology has advanced at a much slower pace when compared to other industries. However, as we observe the on-going momentum and emergence of new trends, it's become apparent that the hotel systems space is finally making strides to catch up. In fact, hospitality technology has come a long way. Following many years of trial and error, hoteliers have begun to utilize emerging tech that allows them to prioritize, and better yet, understand the modern guest in new and exciting ways. This evolution didn't happen overnight, but rather at the hands of industry experts eager to take one-dimensional technology solutions competing for attention, and bring them together to form a cohesive ecosystem.