If there's a theme in this issue, it’s debunking the myths in hospitality and talking about some trends. You know the myths I'm talking about: Millennials are “unique,” disruption is an occurance of the last decade, and that competitors can't be friends or trusted with loaded guns (page 65). And with trends, here's a list of what everyone is doing and you should too. So many of the articles in this issue are intertwined. That’s the nature of hospitality; every facet touches and builds on every other.
First, we focus on the one true guest profile, the holy grail of so much information about your guest that in normal situations it would be considered stalking but here it is just part of a “unified guest experience.” You know, the one that provides the right information for the right guest at the right time. Stalker style, but in a hospitable and not creepy way.
Then we go to the opposite end of the spectrum to look at the inhospitable nature of privacy – the inherent trust and duty to use data responsibly. Our friend Amitava Chatterjee of Deloitte shares the recently released 2016 trends that have bubbled to the top this year. Find out how this will influence and impact our world of travel and hospitality.
And don't miss the highly anticipated, in-depth special report about booking direct being more profitable than using the OTAs (page 142). We searched for answers in the quest between booking direct and using the third-party partners (spoiler alert: turn on the TV and you’ll see all the brands launching campaigns for booking direct this summer). We don’t just say what’s more profitable – we bring the numbers!

How significant is that TripAdvisor review? Well, according to Jeff Parker, not very.
“...the wonderful Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel has 1,495 total reviews on TripAdvisor... the TripAdvisor rating represents less than .09 percent of the total stays.” — page 16

Also of note – from Cindy Estis Green’s article about the battle between the brands and OTAs:
“It’s no secret that there has been a flurry of book direct campaigns launched in recent months... The OTAs’ retaliatory actions convey a message that they sense threat to their business.”— page 142

Finally, I have to say something about this momumental issue. It’s pretty cool and a testiment to the industry and the many technology innovations available. I have to congratulate our team for pulling off such a great book. Our contributors really are the best in the industry. As Rich mentions in his Publisher’s Letter, we are inspired by you, our readers, to do better each issue. Please enjoy it. It was fun putting it together, a great read start to finish, and it is really a blast to share it with you now. And if you will be at HITEC, I hope to see you there.

- Geneva