Wyndham Hotels & Resorts is investing in artificial intelligence (AI) amid record growth in its room pipeline.
The hotel and resort chain released earnings Wednesday (July 24), showing its development pipeline had grown 7% year over year to a record 245,000 rooms. Revenue per available room (RevPAR) grew by 2%, reflecting flat growth in the U.S. and 7% growth internationally.
“The resilience and highly cash generative nature of our business model was once again on full display this quarter,” CEO Geoff Ballotti said in a news release.
“Amid a normalizing domestic RevPAR environment, we delivered strong adjusted EBITDA driven by net room and ancillary fee growth. We awarded 33% more hotel contracts domestically which grew our development pipeline to a record 245,000 rooms, and drove significant increases in our U.S, international and global royalty rates,” he added.
Speaking to analysts during an earnings call, Ballotti discussed some of the initiatives designed to improve guest stays, such as the Wyndham Connect guest engagement platform, a mobile-centric system that uses artificial intelligence (AI) large language models.
“Smart mobile check-in is speeding up the check-in process for both our guests and front desk agents,” the CEO said. “Helping to verify guest information in advance and protecting owners from expensive chargebacks and reducing overall labor needs.”
The company has also rolled out AI-generated messaging to let franchisees easily communicate with and respond to guests via text message before, during and after their stays.
“We’re bringing technology typically offered in luxury and upscale segments to select service hotels,” Ballotti said.
These efforts are part of a larger push by the travel sector to incorporate AI tools into their offerings, as PYMNTS reported earlier this week.
For example, travel management company Altour this week introduced Altour Intelligence, a suite of five AI-powered tools for booking, disruption prediction, customer support, policy compliance and travel insights.
Also this week, travel tech company AMGiNE debuted an AI-powered platform to streamline corporate travel booking, letting users turn to AI to interpret traveler requests and generate itinerary options.
Elsewhere in the travel industry, the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) said this week it expects global business travel spending to increase 11.1% in 2024, reaching $1.48 trillion by year’s end, exceeding the record $1.43 trillion seen in 2019.
“We are witnessing the expected rebound in the sector, reflecting the resilience and adaptability of businesses and the value of business travel worldwide,” Suzanne Neufang, CEO of GBTA, said in a news release. “With projected spending expected to continue to increase through 2028, the future of business travel looks promising.”
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