To help hoteliers navigate the complexities of artificial intelligence, hospitality technology expert, author and educator Ira Vouk has launched the AI Hospitality Alliance, an independent global platform through which the hotel industry can come together to better coordinate efforts around AI and encourage responsible adoption.
The goal behind the initiative is to bring “structure, collaboration, and direction to how hospitality approaches AI” through education, events and research, per an April release. It plans to provide online courses and weekly newsletters, host industry events and publish industry insights and thought leadership pieces on its website. Furthermore, the new organization targets stakeholder groups that have “traditionally operated in silos,” including hoteliers, technology partners, researchers and investors.
The launch comes after major hotel companies have announced AI initiatives in recent months, including both Wyndham Hotels & Resorts and Choice Hotels International debuting AI-powered tools to improve the booking experience for guests and operational efficiency for owners.
To better understand the AI Hospitality Alliance and its mission, Vouk spoke with Hotel Dive about why she formed the group, her thoughts on the future of AI and how the technology can help solve fragmentation.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
HOTEL DIVE: What led you to start the alliance?
IRA VOUK: The reason why I started the organization is because the industry — hospitality and travel in general — did not have a body or platform that would unite our efforts around AI. The main goal is to help the industry push things forward when it comes to AI adoption and not just talk about it, but actually shape the way this evolves.
It’s been going on for probably a year, but the specific trigger or final nail in the coffin was my frustration with a lack of action or coordination in the industry.
Of course, it had been brewing for a while, and I’ve been active in AI. All the discussions that were happening, I was trying to lead those discussions as well. I just wanted to turn those discussions into actions, and that just wasn’t happening on a large scale in the industry before and there was no coordination between different efforts. Even though each effort is valuable and contributes a lot to industry, we didn’t have one unanimous platform where we could gather, discuss and get things done, and the alliance is that platform.
What is AIHA’s main goal?
The main goal of the alliance is to unite the industry’s efforts around AI, and not only to discuss things and not just to stay informed — which is also important — but also get things done to allow us to shape where things are going. This is a once-in-a-lifetime reset for our industry where we can actually influence where this is going to go. But if we snooze through it again like we did 30 years ago in the beginning of the internet, then it’s going to get worse.
We have an opportunity to actually do things that would allow hotel companies and other stakeholders in the industry to find better ways to exist in this new reality that is being transformed in front of our eyes. So we can either sit and watch, or we can actually make things happen and shape where this is going. The alliance is created to help shape where this is going, and this is done through enhancing and inducing collaboration between different types of stakeholders in many different forums.
Is there one area in AI you think hospitality has the greatest opportunity?
Fragmentation. A lot of integration issues come from fragmentation. AI, in my opinion, has the potential to help us solve that. Once that’s solved, it will help the industry innovate so much faster.
What is the future of hotels and AI?
The future has potential to be much brighter with AI a part of the ecosystem. I hope that the future will look like this: hoteliers will have much more control. I hope integration issues will be solved, we will be able to innovate much faster. I really hope that there will be collaboration and communication between different stakeholders, who work together, and that they use AI to its full potential. We have to get rid of the mindset that we are the most conservative and instead sit at the forefront of innovation in terms of digitization.
Why do you think the hotel industry tends to fall behind?
It’s partially because of a lack of coordination in efforts — it’s a fragmented industry. There are players that are important, but they don’t work together. There was just no entity that would put it all together. We are a conservative industry that’s also changing. This will allow us to become more innovative and adopt something new and interesting.
Is there anything else you’d like to say about AIHA, and what your own mission is?
I’m that lunatic that’s very passionate about actually trying to help the industry be more innovative, this is my main goal. I am known for this, as an independent consultant, and I’ve been doing that for many years now. The alliance just allows me to do it on a larger scale. Helping the industry evolve is my biggest passion, and I'll die trying. I am very happy to see the support of this industry and how it’s embraced this initiative, which tells me there is definitely a huge gap that the alliance is filling.