We welcome everyone to DBS and open with a focus on what matters most: hotel guests. Knowing your guest changes everything — how you market, what you build, how you communicate. In this icebreaker session, attendees will discuss how to turn the characteristics of a hotel into personalized marketing. Then we’ll compare with what AI thinks!

Every hotel has a morning ritual nobody talks about: someone logs into different systems, pulls yesterday's numbers, copies them into a spreadsheet, formats a report, and emails it to the GM. And someone's doing for the weekly comp set. And for marketing. This is admin, not strategy. 

In this session you'll learn how new AI tools allow time-consuming workflows to be replaced by automation, and about new possibilities AI can open up. You'll leave with ideas for how to make your team more productive right away and steps to get you started.

Now everyone can build things. MIT Technology Review named vibe coding one of the 10 Breakthrough Technologies of 2026, and in this session you will find out why. 

First, you will build something fun to see how it works. Then you will build something real for your hotel. You will walk out with the knowledge that you can do the same - and more - again tomorrow. This is not just a demo you watch. You'll be getting hands-on and experiencing just how quickly vibe coding can deliver.

Eighty percent of travellers now use AI-generated summaries for nearly half their searches. When someone asks ChatGPT or Google AI for a hotel recommendation, your property either shows up or it does not. In this training session, you will audit your own digital presence live, identify the gaps costing you visibility, and leave with an action plan you can implement the following week.

This is not a session about AI in hospitality. It's a session about AI tools that happen to be devastatingly useful wherever you work. Because it's one thing to want to get started; it's another to know where to begin. Agents, skills, projects, plug-ins, gems, LLMs, vibe coding, speech coding, models, tokens, prompt engineering - what does it even all mean?

In this session you'll gain a solid understanding of the most important AI tools and concepts, what you should use for different tasks, and where to get started.

This is not a session about AI in hospitality. It's a session about AI tools that happen to be devastatingly useful wherever you work. Because it's one thing to want to get started; it's another to know where to begin. Agents, skills, projects, plug-ins, gems, LLMs, vibe coding, speech coding, models, tokens, prompt engineering - what does it even all mean?

In this session you'll gain a solid understanding of the most important AI tools and concepts, what you should use for different tasks, and where to get started.

Now everyone can build things. MIT Technology Review named vibe coding one of the 10 Breakthrough Technologies of 2026, and in this session you will find out why. 

First, you will build something fun to see how it works. Then you will build something real for your hotel. You will walk out with the knowledge that you can do the same - and more - again tomorrow. This is not just a demo you watch. You'll be getting hands-on and experiencing just how quickly vibe coding can deliver.

Every hotel has a morning ritual nobody talks about: someone logs into different systems, pulls yesterday's numbers, copies them into a spreadsheet, formats a report, and emails it to the GM. And someone's doing for the weekly comp set. And for marketing. This is admin, not strategy. 

In this session you'll learn how new AI tools allow time-consuming workflows to be replaced by automation, and about new possibilities AI can open up. You'll leave with ideas for how to make your team more productive right away and steps to get you started.

Eighty percent of travellers now use AI-generated summaries for nearly half their searches. When someone asks ChatGPT or Google AI for a hotel recommendation, your property either shows up or it does not. In this training session, you will audit your own digital presence live, identify the gaps costing you visibility, and leave with an action plan you can implement the following week.

A video strategy that starts and ends on your homepage is missing a massive opportunity. This talk reveals how top brands are moving beyond static placements to weave video throughout their websites and booking journeys. Learn how to turn passive viewers into active decision-makers with a scalable, data-driven approach.

Mayfair House Hotel and Garden in Coconut Grove is one of Miami's most distinctive boutique properties Michelin-recognized, rooted in the culture of the Grove, and building a brand story that no global chain could manufacture. In this fireside conversation, ukreate founder Rob Torres sits down with Mayfair House General Manager Michael Stephens to unpack how an independent boutique property sources, manages, and deploys creator content across its marketing channels.

They'll get into the real mechanics: how Michael evaluates which creators get a key card, what content actually converts browsers into direct bookers, and why a property with a world-class brand story still bets on UGC over polished campaign shoots.

Most direct booking conversations start at the booking engine. This one starts at brand equity, arguing that the most durable path to lower OTA dependency is a brand guests actively seek out, rather than stumble across on OTA.

Meet in the lobby of St. Regis at 6:30 PM sharp. Your Triptease guide will escort you to our private party at Salazar, a chic open-air spot with seafood and cocktails, perfect for an evening with peers. Free flowing food and drinks until 10 PM.

Wear your most vibrant outfit!

Getting guests to book direct is great — but it's only valuable if the pricing strategy behind it is just as smart. 

In this session, Duetto will explore how hotels can move beyond the direct vs. OTA debate and focus on true profitability — think GOP, displacement cost, and dynamic pricing that keeps up with how guests are actually booking today. Plus, a look at how Duetto and Triptease work together to make acquisition spend count at exactly the right moment.

Why old playbooks no longer work and how the most successful hotels are rebuilding their commercial strategy around direct demand, data, and guest experience.

In this session Alasdair Snow, Chief Product Officer at Triptease, explores our vision for the future of hotel marketing and the next evolution of the Triptease Data Marketing Platform.

Independent hotels consistently outperform chains on service and experience, yet guests return to OTA when it is time to rebook. The reason is not your hotel. It is the loyalty infrastructure OTAs have spent a decade building to capture the next booking before you get the chance. Whitney Mulaj, drawing on data from 900+ hotels, maps the gap and how independents can close it

Guests are no longer reading your website. They watch 90 seconds of someone else's stay and trust it more than anything your marketing team has written. Andy Acs, who built a network of 80 million followers and 4 billion monthly organic views, gives you a three-question audit to find out where your property is falling short and a 90-day plan to fix it.

Eighty percent of travellers now use AI-generated summaries for nearly half their searches. When someone asks ChatGPT or Google AI for a hotel recommendation, your property either shows up or it does not. In this training session, you will audit your own digital presence live, identify the gaps costing you visibility, and leave with an action plan you can implement the following week.

This is not a session about AI in hospitality. It's a session about AI tools that happen to be devastatingly useful wherever you work. Because it's one thing to want to get started; it's another to know where to begin. Agents, skills, projects, plug-ins, gems, LLMs, vibe coding, speech coding, models, tokens, prompt engineering - what does it even all mean?

In this session you'll gain a solid understanding of the most important AI tools and concepts, what you should use for different tasks, and where to get started.

Every hotel has a morning ritual nobody talks about: someone logs into five systems, pulls yesterday's numbers, copies them into a spreadsheet, formats a report, and emails it to the GM. Then they do it again for the weekly comp set. And again for marketing. None of this is strategy. All of it can be automated with AI tools you already have access to. 

In this session, you'll learn five reporting workflows that hotel teams do manually every week get replaced by AI-powered alternatives in real time. No expensive platforms - just free and/or low-cost tools you set up once and run forever. You'll leave with the exact prompts, templates, and setup steps to automate your first workflow before the end of the week.

Now everyone can build things. MIT Technology Review named vibe coding one of the 10 Breakthrough Technologies of 2026, and in this session you will find out why. 

First, you will build something fun to see how it works. Then you will build something real for your hotel. You will walk out with the knowledge that you can do the same - and more - again tomorrow. This is not just a demo you watch. You'll be getting hands-on and experiencing just how quickly vibe coding can deliver.

Now everyone can build things. MIT Technology Review named vibe coding one of the 10 Breakthrough Technologies of 2026, and in this session you will find out why. 

First, you will build something fun to see how it works. Then you will build something real for your hotel. You will walk out with the knowledge that you can do the same - and more - again tomorrow. This is not just a demo you watch. You'll be getting hands-on and experiencing just how quickly vibe coding can deliver.

Eighty percent of travellers now use AI-generated summaries for nearly half their searches. When someone asks ChatGPT or Google AI for a hotel recommendation, your property either shows up or it does not. In this training session, you will audit your own digital presence live, identify the gaps costing you visibility, and leave with an action plan you can implement the following week.

This is not a session about AI in hospitality. It's a session about AI tools that happen to be devastatingly useful wherever you work. Because it's one thing to want to get started; it's another to know where to begin. Agents, skills, projects, plug-ins, gems, LLMs, vibe coding, speech coding, models, tokens, prompt engineering - what does it even all mean?

In this session you'll gain a solid understanding of the most important AI tools and concepts, what you should use for different tasks, and where to get started.

Every hotel has a morning ritual nobody talks about: someone logs into five systems, pulls yesterday's numbers, copies them into a spreadsheet, formats a report, and emails it to the GM. Then they do it again for the weekly comp set. And again for marketing. None of this is strategy. All of it can be automated with AI tools you already have access to. 

In this session, you'll learn five reporting workflows that hotel teams do manually every week get replaced by AI-powered alternatives in real time. No expensive platforms - just free and/or low-cost tools you set up once and run forever. You'll leave with the exact prompts, templates, and setup steps to automate your first workflow before the end of the week.

Metasearch might not be sexy in a world where AI is making waves, but it remains one of the most important decision points in the booking journey. Gopakumar Menon, EVP of Revenue and Distribution at Highgate, shares a playbook developed from experience at more than 180 properties.

Most hotels understand the power of Google’s paid search ads. But Google has become one of the most powerful direct distribution tools in hospitality by offering much more than that, including Maps, Hotel Ads and Travel Promotion Ads.

Now new capabilities like AI Mode, AI Overviews in search, and AI-powered Ask Maps are changing how travellers can find and book hotels - with more agentic capabilities on the horizon.

Karina Alarcon is Google's first dedicated Hotel and Lodging lead for Latin America. In this session, she looks at how hotel searches are changing, what AI could mean for your marketing strategy, and how to get the best results in Google channels.

The world of hotel software has been upended. AI is creating all kinds of new opportunities, from automating necessary but time-consuming admin, to building entirely new software. In this day two opener attendees will talk about the possibilities, then see how AI can turn repetitive action into repeatable automation.

Grupo Posadas runs 200+ hotels across nine brands with an $880 million development pipeline. Size does not automatically translate into direct bookings, and Posadas knows it. Hear from their commercial leaders about how distribution decisions get made, how Travelty and Fiesta Rewards drive direct performance, and how they plan to launch a new all-inclusive brand with direct bookings from day one.

The industry has been promising hyper-personalization for years. Most hotels are still doing segmentation and now AI agents are completing bookings on behalf of guests without them ever visiting a hotel website. 

This session brings together Paraty Tech's conversion data from 3000+ hotel clients, Sandra Weber's experience building a cross-ecosystem purchase journey at Xcaret, and Rafael Morgado's 12 years navigating direct channel strategy at Grupo Hotelero Santa Fe. 

In this session we take a closer look at some of the new and upcoming features that will help users of the Triptease Data Marketing Platform to do more effective hotel marketing in 2026.

By leveraging their investment in Salesforce, Staypineapple’s marketing team expanded CRM use in their tech stack transitioning the digital guest journey into a holistic ecommerce strategy. The approach increased direct website revenue share, uncovered key challenges created by OTA parity algorithms, and identified solutions to the often “unspoken” predatory digital practices of the top three third-party distributors.

The average independent hotel runs 20 to 30 percent of bookings through OTAs. The operators in this session have pushed direct past 50 percent. They break down the specific levers that moved the number: what changed in the booking funnel, how they handled rate parity, and the technology decisions that made direct genuinely competitive.

What do hoteliers need to watch out for when deploying AI tools? This session brings together experts who tackle the governance gap most hotels are carrying without knowing it.