The future, Juan and the bet on AI
The Phocuswright Travel 2025 report confirms what we were already seeing: conversational AI is the new standard. Meet Juan, WeSpeak's virtual receptionist.
Phocuswright just released its Travel 2025 report and there's something that surprises no one in the market: conversational AI is no longer an option, it's the new standard for guest service.
But beyond the report, I want to tell you about something concrete.
Juan, WeSpeak's virtual receptionist
For months we worked on something hoteliers kept asking us for: an assistant that doesn't sound like a robot. One that has personality, that can adapt to the hotel's tone, that knows when to hand off to a person and when it can solve things on its own.
The result is Juan. A conversational assistant that:
- Answers frequently asked questions in seconds, 24 hours a day
- Checks availability and rates in real time
- Guides the guest through the booking decision process
- Escalates to a human when the conversation requires it
- Learns and improves with every interaction
It's not a decision-tree chatbot. It's an assistant trained with your hotel's specific knowledge.
Gian Franco Mercado: "The time to adopt AI is now"
We had a long conversation with Gian Franco Mercado, one of the leading voices in independent hospitality in Latin America. His position is clear:
"Hotels that don't adopt AI in the next 18 months will have to compete at a structural disadvantage that will be very hard to recover from."
He doesn't say it as a threat. He says it as a description of what's already happening.
The question isn't whether to adopt it, but when and how to do it right.
— Gonzalo Rioja
