Hi, I'm Gonzalo 👋
Today I bring you an edition packed with value: I translate an interesting piece of news about AI in hotels, give you a practical idea for your marketing, tell you how our event in Paraguay went and share a question a hotelier asked me as our event wrapped up. Let's go.
📰 I translate the news: the industry went from «trying» AI to «using» it
A recent industry report confirms something that was coming: the sector left the AI exploration phase behind to move fully into execution, with 82% of hotels planning to increase their use of it in 2026. And it's not empty enthusiasm: 7 out of 10 professionals already consider that AI is having a significant or transformative impact on the industry.
What does this mean for your hotel? It could be read as «if you don't get on the train, you're left behind». But that's exactly the takeaway I don't want you to walk away with. The real news isn't «implement AI now»; it's that the bar has moved: the question stopped being whether to use AI and became where to use it so it actually serves you.
And here comes the uncomfortable part: adopting AI out of fear of falling behind is the worst reason to do it. AI without integration, without data and without real impact on your operation is, simply, smoke. The fact that «everyone uses it» doesn't make a tool good if it doesn't solve a concrete problem in your hotel.
My recommendation: don't join the AI wave for the hype or the noise. Join where you can solve something that hurts you today and, above all, where you can measure whether it improved. That's not arriving late. That's arriving well.
📣 Hotel marketing: your first photo may be costing you bookings
When someone finds you —on an OTA, on Google, on Instagram—, the first impression is decided in very little time: we tend to decide in seconds whether we keep looking or move on. And in that decision, the first photo usually carries a lot of weight.
Something I see often is that this first image ends up being the building's facade or the empty lobby. It's not wrong, but it shows a place rather than an experience. And in my opinion, people don't fall in love with a building: they fall in love with what they imagine they'll live while they're there.
So here's a simple exercise: look at your gallery with a guest's eyes and ask yourself which image would make someone stop and think «I want to be there». It could be the view, the pool at golden hour, the room with that warm light, the detail that makes your place unique. Try putting that photo first, on all your channels.
It's not about having more photos, but about making the first one work for you. It's a five-minute change well worth trying.
What our event in Asunción left us
A few days ago we lived something special. Together with the Asociación Industrial Hotelera del Paraguay (AIHPY) we held the Hospitality & AI Summit Asunción 2026: two days at the Sheraton Asunción to talk about artificial intelligence, marketing and distribution in the hotel industry.
It wasn't a product event: it was an industry conversation, from colleagues for colleagues, about what defines a hotel's revenue today. We talked about where AI is heading, how distribution has changed and what's actually working to sell more and depend less on intermediaries.
We want to thank AIHPY for making this gathering possible, and every hotelier who joined us. Their presence and participation were what gave the day its true value.
And the best part of this event isn't what we said, but the conversations that sparked among colleagues. It reaffirms something: the industry in our region is hungry to keep growing.
💬 Ask Gonzalo
After our event in Paraguay, a hotelier sent me a question I found so good I want to share it with everyone:
«Gonzalo, I went to the Hospitality & AI event in Asunción and left convinced I need to start using AI. But I have a mid-size hotel, a small team and a thousand things on my plate. Where do I start without losing my mind?»
It is, perhaps, the best question you can ask, because it doesn't start with «which tool do I buy?» but with «where do I start?». That's 80% of the success right there.
My short answer: don't try to do everything at once — it can be a mistake that, instead of helping you, complicates things further.
And the slightly longer answer, in three steps:
- Start with one single problem that hurts you today. In most mid-size hotels, that problem is the messages: the inquiries that come in and you can't answer in time, especially after hours. Concrete bookings are lost there, every single day.
- Before solving it, measure it. How many inquiries go unanswered? How long do you take to reply? You can't improve what you don't analyze, and that number will show you the real size of the opportunity.
- Automate that part, and protect the human side. Let technology take care of the repetitive (answering instantly, following up) and save your team for what no machine does well: the emotional, the complex, the personal touch that builds loyalty.
Don't try to reach the final step before you start walking. Pick one single thing, do it well, measure the result, and build from there. That way AI stops being an abstract threat and becomes a concrete ally.
And if that first step you want to take is precisely the messages —to stop losing bookings for not answering in time—, we'll gladly show it to you working.
Book a demo with us and we'll show you, on your own case, what it would look like in your hotel.
See you in the next one! 👋
Gonzalo
