Valencia, Google AI, and the WhatsApp Ebook

It was an intense week. Let me tell you about three important things.

Valencia: Entrepreneurial Hospitality

The May 23 meetup at the Hotel Turia was everything we hoped for and then some. We gathered with hoteliers from different parts of Spain and had very honest conversations about the sector's real challenges.

What came up most: the feeling that there's a lot of technology available but little clarity on what to adopt first and how to do it without it turning into a headache.

That's exactly what the next step is about.

Google is testing travel ads in AI-powered searches

Google confirmed that it's testing advertising formats integrated into AI-generated answers. This matters because:

• Traditional search results will play a smaller role.
• AI answers will be the new "first result."
• Hotels that aren't optimizing to be cited by AI will lose visibility.

Hotels' digital distribution strategy will have to adapt to this new landscape.

Free Ebook: Bookings via WhatsApp

We launched the ebook most requested by you: an analysis of more than 2,000,000 WhatsApp conversations from hotels across the region.

What we found inside:

• The most frequently asked questions (and how to answer them to convert)
• The hours with the most inquiries (and why it matters)
• The patterns shared by travelers who do book vs. those who don't
• The words and phrases that build the most trust

It's free. You can download it by replying to this email with "Ebook."

— Gonzalo Rioja