AI-powered travel search is rapidly spreading across platforms like ChatGPT, Booking.com, Expedia, and KAYAK. However, transferring the discovery phase to AI does not automatically mean that booking revenue goes directly to the hotel. The real competition is now as much about visibility as it is about the connection and booking infrastructure that converts visibility into sales.
Restaurant technology company Owner has reached a valuation of $2.3 billion after raising $240 million in a new investment round led by Goldman Sachs Alternatives. The company aims to manage not only website and online ordering but also POS, CRM, customer support, phone orders, and marketing through AI agents on a single platform. The investment indicates a shift in competition in restaurant software from offering “more features” to systems that operate these features on behalf of the operator.
For years, digital visibility in hotel marketing has been measured by Google rankings, organic traffic, and keyword performance. With the rise of AI-powered travel planning tools, a new question arises: Is the hotel only found online, or is it actually being recommended by AI when users ask for "family hotel," "romantic boutique hotel," or "hotel near the convention center"? Different studies in 2026 show that the same hotel can experience significant visibility differences across various AI systems and travel purposes. Therefore, the new measurement set for hotels includes metrics such as mention rate, recommendation position, matching with the right features, citation source, and sentiment. However, SEO is not going away; accurate, up-to-date, and structured web information remains one of the key inputs for AI visibility.
The long-standing model in the restaurant industry of 'buy software, pay monthly subscription' is being re-evaluated with AI-powered coding tools. According to Nation’s Restaurant News, Keva Juice, which has eight locations, developed its own operational software using Claude, covering functions such as onboarding, training, daily checklists, and inventory management. The company anticipates saving approximately $30,000 annually by eliminating some SaaS subscriptions. On the other end of the scale, Starbucks is also developing in-house alternatives for some corporate software. According to reports from Bloomberg, Starbucks spends about $400 million annually on software and is considering replacing some functions of Microsoft’s inventory tracking and IBM’s maintenance management tools with its own AI-powered systems. However, the company's decision to phase out another AI inventory tool in 2026 due to counting errors shows that the statements 'making software with AI has become cheaper' and 'producing reliable business software has become easier' are not the same thing.
The competition between POS and reservation systems in restaurant technology has entered a new phase. Square aims to enhance its integration with OpenTable by allowing the use of reservation history, guest preferences, and spending data within the same business view. On the Toast–Resy side, Resy Guestbook data can now be displayed to service staff on Toast POS terminals and handheld devices through Digital Chits. The common aspect of these two developments is making the information from the reservation table available during service. The potential benefit for restaurants is not only more personalized service but also reducing the need for hosts, service, and management teams to switch between different screens and facilitating the association of reservations with actual spending.
Protel Holding and TKPAY have launched a new payment integration aimed at the remote collection processes of hotels and restaurants. As part of the collaboration, businesses using Simpra Link will be able to access TKPAY's payment infrastructure through their existing panel and send payment links to their customers via SMS or email. The collaboration specifically targets transactions such as reservations, prepayments, group meals, events, and banquets, where collections are made without the use of physical POS devices. However, since the level of the "advantageous commission rates" emphasized by the companies has not been disclosed to the public, the actual cost advantage for businesses can only be evaluated by comparing it with existing virtual POS and payment providers.
Expedia Group has parted ways with eight senior technology executives as it restructures its product and technology organization around smaller, independent teams. Among those leaving are Senior Vice President of Book-to-Trip Technology Sachin Singh and seven vice presidents working in areas such as payments, fraud and risk, and self-service. The company's goal is to position teams closer to brands like Expedia, Hotels.com, and Vrbo by reducing layers of coordination in product development processes. The change does not present an overall image of technology downsizing. At the same time, Expedia is continuing to hire for AI and machine learning roles in San Jose. This scenario indicates that artificial intelligence is beginning to impact not only new products but also the distribution of tasks and management layers within travel companies.
Palona AI introduced its new "multimodal AI operating layer" platform, using restaurants as its first test market. The system aims to capture sales opportunities and generate operational alerts for managers by integrating various signals, from phone and catering requests to security camera footage. The company also completed its Series A funding during the same period, raising its total funding to $20 million. However, much of the results regarding revenue growth and operational efficiency still rely on company and customer statements.
AI-supported workforce management can predict shift needs by leveraging past sales and demand data, and can suggest draft plans to managers. However, the real value in HORECA comes not just from reducing labor costs; it’s about scheduling the right employee with the right skills at the right time, considering employee preferences, and keeping the final decision under human control.
Manna Coffee announced that it has raised over $300,000 in an open seed funding round that could reach up to $1.25 million. The company plans to use the capital for technology development and to expand its automatic coffee kiosks. While the model shows the opportunities of low-staff coffee sales, it also brings new operational risks such as location quality, maintenance, and product standard.
As AI agents enter the travel search and booking process, a new question arises for hotels: Will room prices change only according to demand, or will they also vary based on customer behavior and data? The FTC's findings on "surveillance pricing" are bringing data and price control back into focus in hotel distribution.
Greene King evaluated over 300 technology and operational ideas within a year; it brought 53 of them to field testing in a real pub environment.
Mews’ 2026 U.S. hotel performance and AI research show that the use of AI in the hotel industry has moved beyond the experimental stage.
BurgerAI, developed by researchers at Stanford University, created new recipes by learning from 2,216 burger recipes according to taste, nutrition, and sustainability goals. Five AI-designed burgers prepared by professional chefs were compared to a Big Mac in a blind taste test with 101 participants; two recipes achieved the same or higher results than the Big Mac in taste and overall preference. The main value of the research for the restaurant industry is not the claim that "AI replaces chefs" but rather that it demonstrates a new product development tool that can narrow down millions of possible product combinations before kitchen trials.
Restaurants have started to use guest data accumulated in reservation and POS systems more actively in post-meal communication. Personalized thank-you messages, special reservation links, and return offers indicate a more targeted guest relations model than traditional email marketing. However, the success of automation depends on sending the message at the right time, to the right guest, and with measured frequency, rather than just making the message look personal.
Domino’s is offering customers who use its revamped website and mobile app in the U.S. a $5 discount on their next order. The campaign presents a striking model for restaurant brands to test their digital ordering experience with real user behavior.
TravelAI acquired not the accommodation operations of Sonder, which is in bankruptcy, but intellectual property assets such as the brand, trademark, and domain name. Sonder.com is reopening as an AI-powered city accommodation guide.
Fresho's acquisition of UK-based ERP provider Nation Wilcox is not just a merger of two technology companies; it stands out as a strategic move that could accelerate the pace of AI-driven digitalization in the food supply chain.