Back to The Future at Destination AI: Hospitality Summit 2025
The second annual Destination AI Hospitality Summit took place on September 30, 2025, in Washington D.C. gathering hoteliers, technology innovators, and industry leaders to examine practical AI use cases, implementation hurdles, and the business outcomes hotels can realistically expect.
Described as “The AI Conference for Hoteliers”, the forum featured leading speakers from major hotel chains, technology firms, and renowned institutions. The event’s atmosphere evoked memories from the dawn of the 1990s internet era, with a mix of curiosity, scepticism, concern, excitement, and anticipation about the implementation and implications of a life-changing technology. George Roukas, Gaipan, reminded those who took a back seat during the initial days of the internet and later had to play catch-up, not to miss this opportunity and offered that “this is a do-over”.
Event Highlights & Notable Takeaways
Keynote speeches and panels provided deep insights into how AI is already reshaping hospitality operations, guest experiences, and revenue management. Speakers discussed the shift from AI experimentation to practical execution. Greg Land, AWS, described this as “moving from theory/beta into production” but not as a step change but rather a transformative change. Highlighting the rapid pace of change, one participant stated, “The future of hospitality may not be the future in two months”.
Notable takeaways:
- A recurring theme throughout the day was that, despite the vast impact of this technology, there is a need to balance AI implementation with preserving the human connection, personal service, and guest empathy that define hospitality.
- Organizations should leverage AI to free up staff to focus more on guest interaction, ultimately driving operational excellence and guest satisfaction, keeping in mind that AI replaces tasks, not people.
- There is a tremendous need for change management to help staff during this transition.
- Security will become even more important as misuse of AI increases.
- Trust will be key to the adoption of AI technology.
- Carolyn Corda, Deloitte, stated, “People buy the future memory of the experience” so help them pre-savor the trip. AI will better enable organizations to use data to personalize the guest journey (pre, during and post stay).
- Frank Pitsikalis of Agilysys spoke of the opportunity, particularly in the luxury segment, to go beyond REVPAR to focus on REVPAGuest and to apply revenue management to the guest by shifting from heads in beds to experiences.
- Expect more seamless conversational interaction with AI agents for reservations and F&B ordering.
- Brad Brewer of Agentic Hospitality discussed how hotels must be AI-ready to compete head-on with OTAs and AI gatekeepers, thereby reclaiming the guest journey.
Supplier Sponsors
Agentic Hospitality provides an infrastructure-level, AI-native platform for hotels designed to help properties reclaim the direct guest relationship to understand guests, personalize their journey, and maximize conversions in real time.
Canary Technologies focuses on AI-driven technology solutions designed to enhance hotel operations and guest experience, including workflow automation and task management systems tailored for hospitality.
MileStone offers hotel digital marketing services, optimized for visibility in AI Search and LLMs, helping properties drive direct bookings, improve search presence and convert more traffic.
Publicis Sapient is a global digital business transformation consultancy helping organizations elevate customer experiences, modernize operations, and unlock value through technology and data.
Agilysys delivers cloud-native hospitality software solutions that optimize property management, point-of-sale, inventory, and workforce management. Their offerings target operational efficiency and improved guest service in hotels and resorts.
BluIP focuses on hospitality communications and sales solutions that leverage AI for smarter customer interactions and streamlined sales processes.
Hapi provides a cloud API platform that integrates hospitality data systems to deliver seamless guest experiences and operational intelligence. Their technology enables hotels to unify and leverage data for smarter decision-making.
Infor offers comprehensive hospitality management software covering property management, revenue management, and analytics to help hotels drive profitability and operational excellence.
Kipsu specializes in conversational AI and guest messaging platforms that facilitate real-time communication between hotels and their guests, improving service responsiveness and satisfaction.
Bodhi is a purpose-built platform to control, schedule, and manage all property systems seamlessly.
MEWS delivers cloud-based property management software with AI-enabled features to simplify operations and enhance guest experiences.
Traversing.ai develops conversational AI technologies tailored for hospitality, enabling hotels to convert guest interactions across chats, texts, and calls into measurable revenue.
Cloudbeds Powered by Signals offers an integrated hospitality platform that combines property management, distribution, and revenue management with AI capabilities to optimize bookings and guest experiences.
Honeywell delivers technology solutions for building management and energy efficiency in hotels, contributing to operational cost savings and enhanced sustainability.
Looking Forward
The third annual Destination AI Hospitality Summit is anticipated to take place on September 29 – 30, 2026, in Washington, D.C. Hospitality professionals should attend Destination AI Hospitality Summit 2026 to stay at the forefront of AI innovation, gain actionable insights from industry pioneers, and network with leaders transforming the future of hospitality technology. The summit promises to continue its role as a pivotal forum for accelerating AI adoption and elevating hotel operations and guest services.
Do you have any industry knowledge, experience, or news you’d like to share? Why not send us your press releases, survey results, news, and articles? We will review them and may publish them on the IHS website. Just complete the contact form and get in touch.