Our Thoughts

If there is one idea connecting this edition, it is that change is accelerating while the need for a clear identity is becoming stronger.

AI will increasingly influence how travelers discover hotels, how experiences are personalised and how brands create and distribute content. Digital tools will make it possible to build, test and adapt ideas faster. Designers will gain new ways to experiment with materials, forms and production.

But faster creation also changes what has value. When polished images, websites and campaigns become easier to produce, simply making more will matter less. Originality will come from the thinking behind them: a distinctive aesthetic, cultural relevance, a sense of place and a clear understanding of what a brand stands for.

We believe the same principle will shape physical hospitality. Historic hotels will evolve without erasing their past. Wellness, work and social life will continue to converge. Technology will become more present but less visible, quietly removing friction while leaving human interaction at the centre of the experience.

For hospitality brands, the question is therefore not how to adopt every new technology. It is where technology genuinely improves the experience, and where the human element should remain untouched.

That distinction will become increasingly important. AI can generate, optimise and distribute. It can help understand preferences and make digital experiences more responsive. But someone still has to decide what deserves attention, what feels right and what should endure.

The mechanisms around a brand will keep changing. Discovery will change. Interfaces will change. Content creation will change. The guest journey will change.

The brand is what has to survive all of them.

Sébastien Félix, Founder and CEO, Influence Society