by
Rich Siegel
10.18.2024

Siegel Sez 10/18/24

Siegel Sez 10/18/24

Definitely Doug 10/18/24: Facial Recognition and Authentication: Is Now the Time?

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I’ve lived in Atlanta now for 32 years. I’ve always had to travel for my job, but when I was starting out, I was completely broke, so it was all about the airfare. I used to fly TWA (yes, they created a hub here) and Value Jet - that was always an amazing experience.

I eventually worked my way up to Delta and have been a loyal Delta traveler for many years. One thing I liked about Delta was their investment in technology. I’ve gotten to know the technology leaders at Delta over the years, so I might have been influenced a bit. When Delta launched their Digital Id (which, of course, I signed up for right away) I never thought of any risk I might be taking. In this week’s Definitely Doug column that follows, Doug shares his thoughts about Facial Recognition and questions whether or not now is the time for hotels to take part in this innovation.

Hotels have historically followed the airline industry with technology advances, often following far behind. Facial recognition can be a big plus for the hotel industry, with the use of mobile and kiosk check in, front desk personnel automatically recognizing guests and their preferences without having to ask, etc. Doug points out the security concerns that often come with new technology. Is it time for hotels to embrace this technology? That’s the big question Doug asks in his article. Take a few minutes to read Definitely Doug this week, I promise it is eye-opening.

The season for events seems to be upon us. The recent Lodging Conference had over 2,900 attendees in Phoenix, it’s truly an amazing event. Upcoming is the HFTP Annual Conference which includes a meeting for the Hospitality Code of Digital Responsibility which has a very impressive group of technology leaders leading this initiative. The following week will be what I would like to believe is the new and improved Hospitality Show. It seems like the technology part of the show is being well supported and that is all I need to know to make sure I will be there. Plus, San Antonio is just a great place for conferences. I hope to see you in San Antonio at the end of of the month.

Here now is Definitely Doug and his deep dive into the world of Facial Recognition and Authentication. I will see you at the end with this week’s attempt at you-know-what. Thanks for reading and sharing.

Rich
rich@hospitalityupgrade.com

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Biometrics technologies in general, and facial recognition and authentication in particular, are complex and rapidly improving. They can reduce many risks for hotels and improve personalization of service, but they can also create data security risks and breach liabilities if not properly managed. This is not a technology that I would recommend universally today, but it is starting to make sense for more and more hotels as it gets better and cheaper. Today’s column will try to parse the issues so you can evaluate whether the time is right for your hotel to take a closer look.

Facial recognition and authentication are related but different technologies. Facial recognition typically uses stored biometric data against a live camera feed to identify individuals who appear on the camera and whose biometric facial profiles (digital representations of their face) are stored in a database. Facial authentication is used to verify someone’s identity, typically by comparing the biometrics of a face in a live photo or video stream to one depicted on an identity document such as passport or driver’s license, or in a database.

These technologies are becoming more appropriate for many hotels than in the past, depending on your market segment, location, and other factors. Key changes include the following (assuming guest consent where required; more about that later):

  • A significant reduction in cost, as software matures and increasingly reuses already-in-place cameras and mobile devices, and commercially available AI video processing software
  • Ability to prove that a credit card was presented by the actual cardholder, reducing chargeback risk
  • Better functionality from products designed to identify a guest approaching a staff member, to display the guest’s photo to help the staff recognize them, and to display context-relevant personalization information (such as food allergies at a restaurant or beverage preferences at the bar)
  •  Increased deployment of digital wallets (planned for release and government support in all EU countries by 2026), enabling guests to control the sharing of their biometrics (such as passport photo) digitally rather than by providing the physical document at check-in and requiring the hotel to retain a coy
  •  A reduction or elimination of the need for hotels to store sensitive information (such as those passport photos), as well as far better security where the need remains
  • Better physical security within the hotel from the ability of the cameras and video analytics to recognize anomalies that may pose threats
  • Growing support from providers of hotel property management and mobile app software
  • Better identification of repeat guests who may book through different distribution channels, making them frequently difficult to deduplicate in customer databases

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Beyond identification and authentication, there are other benefits from deploying the cameras and software that support facial biometrics. Some hotels are using these capabilities to measure crowd sizes in common spaces, to count the number of people in a queue, to detect the presence of room service trays in the guest-room corridors, to recognize guest license plates as they approach the porte cochère, or to report medical issues such as a guest or staff member who has fallen in a monitored area.

I am indebted to leaders at several companies for the research behind this article, including Youverse, which provides privacy-preserving face authentication solutions used by both banks and hotels, and Neoma, which uses facial recognition to enable more personalized guest service, especially in luxury hotels. In past discussions regarding facial authentication for mobile and kiosk check-in, several other companies provided me with insights that also informed today’s article, including Canary Technologies, Duve, hudini, and Virdee.

Privacy and Consent Considerations

Guests often have strong opinions about the use of their biometrics, and there are a few rules for using it without violating their privacy and trust. First and foremost, hotels should always get consent before obtaining or storing any guest biometric information that is not required by the authorities.

However, expectations of privacy (as well as regulations) vary significantly in different parts of the world. Residents in some countries know that they are under constant video monitoring with facial recognition in public, so they may view any additional risk as minimal. Others may not want to share biometrics even in return for significant tangible benefits. Most people fall somewhere in between: they are willing to share information if they believe it will make their hotel experience more personalized or enjoyable, and that it will not be abused. Their willingness to share with a specific hotel may also depend on how and when they are asked, and how much they trust the hotel or brand.

Storing biometric information, beyond what is sometimes necessary to meet government requirements, can be risky in the event of a data breach. However, new technologies (sucy as from Youverse) enable biometric profiles to be stored in a way that renders them useless unless they are combined with other data that is stored securely on the individual’s mobile device. Similar to the way in which tokenization made it safe for hotels to store payment card data, the latest approach makes it safe to store biometrics. The traveler and the hotel each have information from which a biometric profile can be created, but (a) the hotel cannot do it without the portion held by the traveler; (b) the traveler controls whether to share this with the hotel; and (c) the hotel gets assurance that the traveler’s portion was authorized by them and not by someone else.

There are also many use cases around physical security where consent may not be required, or where it can be obtained as part of a broader relationship (such as employment). For example, hotels can store employee biometrics and use it to control access to back-of-house areas or to staff devices such as computers, point-of-sale terminals, or staff telephones.

Use Cases for Facial Recognition and Authentication

There are several common use cases where facial recognition or authentication are already used in hospitality (even widely, in certain countries or regions), and others that are emerging. These include:

Mobile and kiosk check-in: In jurisdictions where identity verification is required at check-in and data from (or images of) documents sent to local authorities, more and more are starting to accept fully digital processes (as opposed to requiring the hotel to make paper or digital copies of physical documents). Typically, the identity document is scanned (or tapped, if chip-enabled), and a camera captures the facial image and compares it to the one displayed on the document or encoded on the chip to ensure a match. For mobile check-in on a phone, there can be additional checks to ensure that the user is providing a live image rather than holding a photo in front of the camera. Biometrics supported by the phone, such as FaceID, may provide further verification. Scanned or digital identity documents can in many cases also be checked for tampering and/or validated by the issuing agency in real time. With the guest’s consent, the photo can also be captured for the hotel to use to help identify the guest throughout their stay.

Front desk: For luxury and higher-end hotels that want to deliver highly personalized service, the front desk is another opportunity to capture the guest photo to support staff recognition. Check-in (whether mobile, kiosk, or front desk) is the most logical place to get the guest’s consent to use their photo for this purpose. The CCTV camera behind most front desks can (through integrated software) pop up a window on the front desk terminal where staff can select (e.g. via touch) the location of the guest’s face to capture their photo and store the biometric profile.

Loyalty account onboarding and security: Loyalty accounts are essentially bank accounts that store a private currency. Large accounts are routinely targeted by cyber criminals because the currency has value. While most loyalty transactions are low risk, some (such as the withdrawal of millions of points) are not; biometrics can greatly reduce the risk for high-value transactions. This requires an onboarding process (either when the account is first opened or at least before the point balance gets too large) where the biometric profile can be collected and verified by comparison to an identity document. The stored biometrics (preferably using the security approaches described earlier that make them unusable until combined with information stored on the member’s mobile device) can then be used to ensure that only the account holder can access the account. If the account holder loses access (for example because they lose their phone), repeating the onboarding process (with identity document verification) can restore it with minimal risk to the program operator.

Guest recognition and personalization: Luxury hotels have for many years posted photos of VIP guests in the back office for staff to scan. This enables them to recognize guests and personalize their stay. But there is a limit to how many photos most staff can memorize. With facial recognition, the process can now be automated for all guests who have consented.

If a guest approaches hotel staff at the front desk, restaurant hostess station, bar, executive lounge, concierge, bell desk, health facilities, or elsewhere, facial recognition can be used along with the feed from a closed-circuit television (CCTV) or other camera to identify them and to populate relevant contextual information on their screen. This might include seating or food preferences or allergies at a restaurant, activities of interest at the concierge desk, or a recap of a recent service incident that might warrant special recognition or acknowledgement by staff.

While I have not seen it yet, I expect that Artificial Intelligence (AI) will soon come into play to help curate all the information about the guest into the few tidbits that are most relevant to hotel staff in a given context.

Monitoring common spaces: The same technology that can recognize faces can also work anonymously to identify crowd situations or queues that may require staff attention, or to identify guests who are loitering or exhibiting odd or concerning behavior or medical emergencies, and alert hotel security.

Back of house security: If facial biometrics are obtained for employees and others who should be whitelisted for back-of-house access, it can be used to authenticate and authorize access to locked areas (typically using a camera mounted in an access control device on the door frame). Alternatively, CCTV cameras can passively identify individuals entering back-of-house areas and raise alerts to security staff if any non-whitelisted people enter the area.

It is also possible to use biometrics to secure staff devices such as point-of-sale terminals, telephones, and mobile devices, using an embedded or nearby camera. This can, for example, prevent someone from using a stolen point-of-sale swipe card from accessing the till. It can also secure public-area staff phones that may be left unattended at times from being used by non-staff. There are known and serious cases of stalkers using such phones to call the front desk and ask the room number of a guest; because the call displayed as an “internal” call, they were able to get their target’s room number that should not be given to non-staff.

Related use cases: For some applications, facial recognition is just one option for identifying guests and not necessarily the best one. For example, wristbands using Bluetooth or near-field communication (NFC) technologies are often issued to guests on cruise ships or in resorts, which use them to identify guests as they approach staff members. For example, a bartender’s screen might display pictures of every guest with such a device in range, to enable personalization similarly to using facial recognition.

Technology Considerations

Biometric data is personally identifiable information (PII) and subject to stringent regulation in many jurisdictions. While it is possible to store it securely, hotels are not known for their ability to secure data well, especially at the individual unit level. The better approach uses cryptography to encode and split the data into two parts, which must be combined to be usable. The hotel holds one part, the guest holds the other. Neither piece alone constitutes PII or is useful without the other, so simpler security measures are sufficient.

Even the most secure approaches to using facial recognition for authentication are hackable, however. An arms race has developed between facial recognition applications and bad actors who use AI video generation to overcome challenges like liveness tests. For example, a liveness test might ask a person to point their phone camera at their face and then respond to random spoken instructions, such as to smile or wink. AI, however, is rapidly reaching the point where it can generate real-time video that responds just like a human, and that video can be displayed on another device that is held in front of the phone’s camera. The better technologies can currently detect most such crude attempts and foil them, but it can be harder to detect AI fakes if the criminal hacks into the camera network and sends the video feed digitally.

Security vs. Cost Tradeoffs

You cannot get perfect security; a determined and capable criminal with a large enough target can ultimately prevail, although it will be far more difficult than the old-school method of passing off a fake identity card at the front desk. Hotels should try to match the level of security to the risk. If the risk is low, “fairly secure” may suffice; where the risk is higher, you can up your game as much as you like.

In terms of cost, you can spend more or less on the facial recognition technology itself, on connected CCTV systems (which are typically used for other purposes as well), and for identity document verification. The latter is often a variable cost; simple format validation, tamper detection, and information capture may be in the pennies per check, while full real-time verification of authenticity with the issuing agency may cost several dollars. The latter is probably overkill for most hotel use cases, although it might make sense for employee onboarding, for loyalty accounts that exceed a certain value, or for casino high-rollers. For hotel check-ins, high security is not usually needed or cost justified; you typically just need enough proof that the cardholder was present at the time of the transaction to be able to fight chargebacks effectively. But there could be exceptions, for example when renting a high-value suite with expensive furnishings or artwork.

The emergence of digital self-sovereign wallets and identity documents will soon start to replace the need for real-time verification of paper documents, although the timeline appears likely to vary widely in different parts of the world. Especially for hotels in the European Union and other locations where governments are implementing these, real-time physical document verification solutions may be short-lived. The facial authentication processes do not necessarily change with this transition; rather, the source of the identity document photo to be matched changes from a scanned physical document to a digital one (probably presented securely via NFC). It is worth understanding how any potential vendor is prepared to address this transition.

Conclusion

Most hotels today that offer mobile or kiosk check-in can potentially benefit from lightweight applications of facial authentication and document verification to verify the identity of the guest, both as a good business practice and to minimize chargeback risk. Luxury hotels can do much more to facilitate guest recognition and personalization, as many of the above use cases illustrate.

There is no one-size-fits-all solution, and the technology costs will still likely come down in coming years; depending on your use cases an adequate return on investment may exist today or might need more time. But this is relatively simple technology that reuses devices and infrastructure many hotels already have in place, meaning it can often be deployed at modest incremental costs.

As always, feedback to my articles is welcome. Since the host site does not support discussions, I will post a link to this article on my own LinkedIn page once it has been published, and I invite you to comment, like, or share from there!

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Click here to read more of Doug's column:
Definitely Doug 10/18/24: Facial Recognition and Authentication: Is Now the Time?

Douglas Rice
Email: douglas.rice@hosptech.net
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/ricedouglas

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I’ve lived in Atlanta now for 32 years. I’ve always had to travel for my job, but when I was starting out, I was completely broke, so it was all about the airfare. I used to fly TWA (yes, they created a hub here) and Value Jet - that was always an amazing experience.

I eventually worked my way up to Delta and have been a loyal Delta traveler for many years. One thing I liked about Delta was their investment in technology. I’ve gotten to know the technology leaders at Delta over the years, so I might have been influenced a bit. When Delta launched their Digital Id (which, of course, I signed up for right away) I never thought of any risk I might be taking. In this week’s Definitely Doug column that follows, Doug shares his thoughts about Facial Recognition and questions whether or not now is the time for hotels to take part in this innovation.

Hotels have historically followed the airline industry with technology advances, often following far behind. Facial recognition can be a big plus for the hotel industry, with the use of mobile and kiosk check in, front desk personnel automatically recognizing guests and their preferences without having to ask, etc. Doug points out the security concerns that often come with new technology. Is it time for hotels to embrace this technology? That’s the big question Doug asks in his article. Take a few minutes to read Definitely Doug this week, I promise it is eye-opening.

The season for events seems to be upon us. The recent Lodging Conference had over 2,900 attendees in Phoenix, it’s truly an amazing event. Upcoming is the HFTP Annual Conference which includes a meeting for the Hospitality Code of Digital Responsibility which has a very impressive group of technology leaders leading this initiative. The following week will be what I would like to believe is the new and improved Hospitality Show. It seems like the technology part of the show is being well supported and that is all I need to know to make sure I will be there. Plus, San Antonio is just a great place for conferences. I hope to see you in San Antonio at the end of of the month.

Here now is Definitely Doug and his deep dive into the world of Facial Recognition and Authentication. I will see you at the end with this week’s attempt at you-know-what. Thanks for reading and sharing.

Rich
rich@hospitalityupgrade.com

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Definitely Doug 10/18/24: Facial Recognition and Authentication: Is Now the Time?

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Biometrics technologies in general, and facial recognition and authentication in particular, are complex and rapidly improving. They can reduce many risks for hotels and improve personalization of service, but they can also create data security risks and breach liabilities if not properly managed. This is not a technology that I would recommend universally today, but it is starting to make sense for more and more hotels as it gets better and cheaper. Today’s column will try to parse the issues so you can evaluate whether the time is right for your hotel to take a closer look.

Facial recognition and authentication are related but different technologies. Facial recognition typically uses stored biometric data against a live camera feed to identify individuals who appear on the camera and whose biometric facial profiles (digital representations of their face) are stored in a database. Facial authentication is used to verify someone’s identity, typically by comparing the biometrics of a face in a live photo or video stream to one depicted on an identity document such as passport or driver’s license, or in a database.

These technologies are becoming more appropriate for many hotels than in the past, depending on your market segment, location, and other factors. Key changes include the following (assuming guest consent where required; more about that later):

  • A significant reduction in cost, as software matures and increasingly reuses already-in-place cameras and mobile devices, and commercially available AI video processing software
  • Ability to prove that a credit card was presented by the actual cardholder, reducing chargeback risk
  • Better functionality from products designed to identify a guest approaching a staff member, to display the guest’s photo to help the staff recognize them, and to display context-relevant personalization information (such as food allergies at a restaurant or beverage preferences at the bar)
  •  Increased deployment of digital wallets (planned for release and government support in all EU countries by 2026), enabling guests to control the sharing of their biometrics (such as passport photo) digitally rather than by providing the physical document at check-in and requiring the hotel to retain a coy
  •  A reduction or elimination of the need for hotels to store sensitive information (such as those passport photos), as well as far better security where the need remains
  • Better physical security within the hotel from the ability of the cameras and video analytics to recognize anomalies that may pose threats
  • Growing support from providers of hotel property management and mobile app software
  • Better identification of repeat guests who may book through different distribution channels, making them frequently difficult to deduplicate in customer databases

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Beyond identification and authentication, there are other benefits from deploying the cameras and software that support facial biometrics. Some hotels are using these capabilities to measure crowd sizes in common spaces, to count the number of people in a queue, to detect the presence of room service trays in the guest-room corridors, to recognize guest license plates as they approach the porte cochère, or to report medical issues such as a guest or staff member who has fallen in a monitored area.

I am indebted to leaders at several companies for the research behind this article, including Youverse, which provides privacy-preserving face authentication solutions used by both banks and hotels, and Neoma, which uses facial recognition to enable more personalized guest service, especially in luxury hotels. In past discussions regarding facial authentication for mobile and kiosk check-in, several other companies provided me with insights that also informed today’s article, including Canary Technologies, Duve, hudini, and Virdee.

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Biometrics technologies in general, and facial recognition and authentication in particular, are complex and rapidly improving. They can reduce many risks for hotels and improve personalization of service, but they can also create data security risks and breach liabilities if not properly managed. This is not a technology that I would recommend universally today, but it is starting to make sense for more and more hotels as it gets better and cheaper. Today’s column will try to parse the issues so you can evaluate whether the time is right for your hotel to take a closer look.

Facial recognition and authentication are related but different technologies. Facial recognition typically uses stored biometric data against a live camera feed to identify individuals who appear on the camera and whose biometric facial profiles (digital representations of their face) are stored in a database. Facial authentication is used to verify someone’s identity, typically by comparing the biometrics of a face in a live photo or video stream to one depicted on an identity document such as passport or driver’s license, or in a database.

These technologies are becoming more appropriate for many hotels than in the past, depending on your market segment, location, and other factors. Key changes include the following (assuming guest consent where required; more about that later):

  • A significant reduction in cost, as software matures and increasingly reuses already-in-place cameras and mobile devices, and commercially available AI video processing software
  • Ability to prove that a credit card was presented by the actual cardholder, reducing chargeback risk
  • Better functionality from products designed to identify a guest approaching a staff member, to display the guest’s photo to help the staff recognize them, and to display context-relevant personalization information (such as food allergies at a restaurant or beverage preferences at the bar)
  •  Increased deployment of digital wallets (planned for release and government support in all EU countries by 2026), enabling guests to control the sharing of their biometrics (such as passport photo) digitally rather than by providing the physical document at check-in and requiring the hotel to retain a coy
  •  A reduction or elimination of the need for hotels to store sensitive information (such as those passport photos), as well as far better security where the need remains
  • Better physical security within the hotel from the ability of the cameras and video analytics to recognize anomalies that may pose threats
  • Growing support from providers of hotel property management and mobile app software
  • Better identification of repeat guests who may book through different distribution channels, making them frequently difficult to deduplicate in customer databases

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Beyond identification and authentication, there are other benefits from deploying the cameras and software that support facial biometrics. Some hotels are using these capabilities to measure crowd sizes in common spaces, to count the number of people in a queue, to detect the presence of room service trays in the guest-room corridors, to recognize guest license plates as they approach the porte cochère, or to report medical issues such as a guest or staff member who has fallen in a monitored area.

I am indebted to leaders at several companies for the research behind this article, including Youverse, which provides privacy-preserving face authentication solutions used by both banks and hotels, and Neoma, which uses facial recognition to enable more personalized guest service, especially in luxury hotels. In past discussions regarding facial authentication for mobile and kiosk check-in, several other companies provided me with insights that also informed today’s article, including Canary Technologies, Duve, hudini, and Virdee.

Privacy and Consent Considerations

Guests often have strong opinions about the use of their biometrics, and there are a few rules for using it without violating their privacy and trust. First and foremost, hotels should always get consent before obtaining or storing any guest biometric information that is not required by the authorities.

However, expectations of privacy (as well as regulations) vary significantly in different parts of the world. Residents in some countries know that they are under constant video monitoring with facial recognition in public, so they may view any additional risk as minimal. Others may not want to share biometrics even in return for significant tangible benefits. Most people fall somewhere in between: they are willing to share information if they believe it will make their hotel experience more personalized or enjoyable, and that it will not be abused. Their willingness to share with a specific hotel may also depend on how and when they are asked, and how much they trust the hotel or brand.

Storing biometric information, beyond what is sometimes necessary to meet government requirements, can be risky in the event of a data breach. However, new technologies (sucy as from Youverse) enable biometric profiles to be stored in a way that renders them useless unless they are combined with other data that is stored securely on the individual’s mobile device. Similar to the way in which tokenization made it safe for hotels to store payment card data, the latest approach makes it safe to store biometrics. The traveler and the hotel each have information from which a biometric profile can be created, but (a) the hotel cannot do it without the portion held by the traveler; (b) the traveler controls whether to share this with the hotel; and (c) the hotel gets assurance that the traveler’s portion was authorized by them and not by someone else.

There are also many use cases around physical security where consent may not be required, or where it can be obtained as part of a broader relationship (such as employment). For example, hotels can store employee biometrics and use it to control access to back-of-house areas or to staff devices such as computers, point-of-sale terminals, or staff telephones.

Use Cases for Facial Recognition and Authentication

There are several common use cases where facial recognition or authentication are already used in hospitality (even widely, in certain countries or regions), and others that are emerging. These include:

Mobile and kiosk check-in: In jurisdictions where identity verification is required at check-in and data from (or images of) documents sent to local authorities, more and more are starting to accept fully digital processes (as opposed to requiring the hotel to make paper or digital copies of physical documents). Typically, the identity document is scanned (or tapped, if chip-enabled), and a camera captures the facial image and compares it to the one displayed on the document or encoded on the chip to ensure a match. For mobile check-in on a phone, there can be additional checks to ensure that the user is providing a live image rather than holding a photo in front of the camera. Biometrics supported by the phone, such as FaceID, may provide further verification. Scanned or digital identity documents can in many cases also be checked for tampering and/or validated by the issuing agency in real time. With the guest’s consent, the photo can also be captured for the hotel to use to help identify the guest throughout their stay.

Front desk: For luxury and higher-end hotels that want to deliver highly personalized service, the front desk is another opportunity to capture the guest photo to support staff recognition. Check-in (whether mobile, kiosk, or front desk) is the most logical place to get the guest’s consent to use their photo for this purpose. The CCTV camera behind most front desks can (through integrated software) pop up a window on the front desk terminal where staff can select (e.g. via touch) the location of the guest’s face to capture their photo and store the biometric profile.

Loyalty account onboarding and security: Loyalty accounts are essentially bank accounts that store a private currency. Large accounts are routinely targeted by cyber criminals because the currency has value. While most loyalty transactions are low risk, some (such as the withdrawal of millions of points) are not; biometrics can greatly reduce the risk for high-value transactions. This requires an onboarding process (either when the account is first opened or at least before the point balance gets too large) where the biometric profile can be collected and verified by comparison to an identity document. The stored biometrics (preferably using the security approaches described earlier that make them unusable until combined with information stored on the member’s mobile device) can then be used to ensure that only the account holder can access the account. If the account holder loses access (for example because they lose their phone), repeating the onboarding process (with identity document verification) can restore it with minimal risk to the program operator.

Guest recognition and personalization: Luxury hotels have for many years posted photos of VIP guests in the back office for staff to scan. This enables them to recognize guests and personalize their stay. But there is a limit to how many photos most staff can memorize. With facial recognition, the process can now be automated for all guests who have consented.

If a guest approaches hotel staff at the front desk, restaurant hostess station, bar, executive lounge, concierge, bell desk, health facilities, or elsewhere, facial recognition can be used along with the feed from a closed-circuit television (CCTV) or other camera to identify them and to populate relevant contextual information on their screen. This might include seating or food preferences or allergies at a restaurant, activities of interest at the concierge desk, or a recap of a recent service incident that might warrant special recognition or acknowledgement by staff.

While I have not seen it yet, I expect that Artificial Intelligence (AI) will soon come into play to help curate all the information about the guest into the few tidbits that are most relevant to hotel staff in a given context.

Monitoring common spaces: The same technology that can recognize faces can also work anonymously to identify crowd situations or queues that may require staff attention, or to identify guests who are loitering or exhibiting odd or concerning behavior or medical emergencies, and alert hotel security.

Back of house security: If facial biometrics are obtained for employees and others who should be whitelisted for back-of-house access, it can be used to authenticate and authorize access to locked areas (typically using a camera mounted in an access control device on the door frame). Alternatively, CCTV cameras can passively identify individuals entering back-of-house areas and raise alerts to security staff if any non-whitelisted people enter the area.

It is also possible to use biometrics to secure staff devices such as point-of-sale terminals, telephones, and mobile devices, using an embedded or nearby camera. This can, for example, prevent someone from using a stolen point-of-sale swipe card from accessing the till. It can also secure public-area staff phones that may be left unattended at times from being used by non-staff. There are known and serious cases of stalkers using such phones to call the front desk and ask the room number of a guest; because the call displayed as an “internal” call, they were able to get their target’s room number that should not be given to non-staff.

Related use cases: For some applications, facial recognition is just one option for identifying guests and not necessarily the best one. For example, wristbands using Bluetooth or near-field communication (NFC) technologies are often issued to guests on cruise ships or in resorts, which use them to identify guests as they approach staff members. For example, a bartender’s screen might display pictures of every guest with such a device in range, to enable personalization similarly to using facial recognition.

Technology Considerations

Biometric data is personally identifiable information (PII) and subject to stringent regulation in many jurisdictions. While it is possible to store it securely, hotels are not known for their ability to secure data well, especially at the individual unit level. The better approach uses cryptography to encode and split the data into two parts, which must be combined to be usable. The hotel holds one part, the guest holds the other. Neither piece alone constitutes PII or is useful without the other, so simpler security measures are sufficient.

Even the most secure approaches to using facial recognition for authentication are hackable, however. An arms race has developed between facial recognition applications and bad actors who use AI video generation to overcome challenges like liveness tests. For example, a liveness test might ask a person to point their phone camera at their face and then respond to random spoken instructions, such as to smile or wink. AI, however, is rapidly reaching the point where it can generate real-time video that responds just like a human, and that video can be displayed on another device that is held in front of the phone’s camera. The better technologies can currently detect most such crude attempts and foil them, but it can be harder to detect AI fakes if the criminal hacks into the camera network and sends the video feed digitally.

Security vs. Cost Tradeoffs

You cannot get perfect security; a determined and capable criminal with a large enough target can ultimately prevail, although it will be far more difficult than the old-school method of passing off a fake identity card at the front desk. Hotels should try to match the level of security to the risk. If the risk is low, “fairly secure” may suffice; where the risk is higher, you can up your game as much as you like.

In terms of cost, you can spend more or less on the facial recognition technology itself, on connected CCTV systems (which are typically used for other purposes as well), and for identity document verification. The latter is often a variable cost; simple format validation, tamper detection, and information capture may be in the pennies per check, while full real-time verification of authenticity with the issuing agency may cost several dollars. The latter is probably overkill for most hotel use cases, although it might make sense for employee onboarding, for loyalty accounts that exceed a certain value, or for casino high-rollers. For hotel check-ins, high security is not usually needed or cost justified; you typically just need enough proof that the cardholder was present at the time of the transaction to be able to fight chargebacks effectively. But there could be exceptions, for example when renting a high-value suite with expensive furnishings or artwork.

The emergence of digital self-sovereign wallets and identity documents will soon start to replace the need for real-time verification of paper documents, although the timeline appears likely to vary widely in different parts of the world. Especially for hotels in the European Union and other locations where governments are implementing these, real-time physical document verification solutions may be short-lived. The facial authentication processes do not necessarily change with this transition; rather, the source of the identity document photo to be matched changes from a scanned physical document to a digital one (probably presented securely via NFC). It is worth understanding how any potential vendor is prepared to address this transition.

Conclusion

Most hotels today that offer mobile or kiosk check-in can potentially benefit from lightweight applications of facial authentication and document verification to verify the identity of the guest, both as a good business practice and to minimize chargeback risk. Luxury hotels can do much more to facilitate guest recognition and personalization, as many of the above use cases illustrate.

There is no one-size-fits-all solution, and the technology costs will still likely come down in coming years; depending on your use cases an adequate return on investment may exist today or might need more time. But this is relatively simple technology that reuses devices and infrastructure many hotels already have in place, meaning it can often be deployed at modest incremental costs.

As always, feedback to my articles is welcome. Since the host site does not support discussions, I will post a link to this article on my own LinkedIn page once it has been published, and I invite you to comment, like, or share from there!

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Click here to read more of Doug's column:
Definitely Doug 10/18/24: Facial Recognition and Authentication: Is Now the Time?

Douglas Rice
Email: douglas.rice@hosptech.net
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/ricedouglas

CORPORATE NEWS

Hotel tech specialist SHR and Host PMS become go-to-market partners in Spain, Portugal and Latin America   
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shrgroup.com     hostpms.com
 
Hilton and Be My Eyes Launch Industry‑First Partnership to Enhance the Hilton Stay for Guests who are Blind or Low Vision    
Hilton, a global leader in hospitality, announced today an industry-first, exclusive partnership with Be My Eyes to ensure guests who are blind or have low vision can experience a more accessible, seamless and welcoming stay. Together with Be My Eyes, Hilton is making available AI-powered assistance and dedicated Hilton Reservations and Customer Care support to guests who are blind or have low vision across the U.S. and Canada.
www.hilton.com     www.bemyeyes.com
 
Cendyn Acquires Knowland and Announces Private Equity Partner Haveli Investments
Cendyn, a global hospitality cloud-based technology company, has acquired Knowland, the US-based leader in data-as-a-service intelligence on meetings and events for hospitality. The strategic acquisition presents an opportunity to enhance sales prospecting by yielding greater bookings in the MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences, and events) space.
cendyn.com     www.knowland.com

PEOPLE ON THE MOVE

Jeff Bzdawka Joins Hapi as President
Hapi, a leading provider of hospitality data and connectivity solutions, announces the appointment of Jeff Bzdawka as company President. Bzdawka brings over 30 years of hospitality experience to Hapi, with a proven track record of building customer and colleague-focused solutions, scaling teams, and driving growth.
www.hapicloud.io
 
Mews Announces SaaS IPO Icon, Steve Cakebread, to Join Its Board
Mews, a cloud SaaS and fintech platform that serves the hospitality industry, has announced today the appointment of Steve Cakebread to the company’s board.
Mews

GUEST MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS

Spokane Tribe Resort & Casino Partners with Travel Outlook to Elevate Guest Service Experience
Travel Outlook, a premier hotel call center, proudly announces its latest partnership with Spokane Tribe Resort & Casino, a leading gaming and entertainment destination in the Pacific Northwest. This collaboration will enhance the resort’s guest services by providing seamless, high-quality call center solutions. Travel Outlook’s unique combination of advanced technology and personalized human touch aligns perfectly with Spokane Tribe Resort & Casino’s commitment to offering unforgettable guest experiences.
traveloutlook.com      spokanetribecasino.com

REVENUE MANAGEMENT & ANALYTICS

Kalibri Labs Unveils OTB Signals
Kalibri Labs is excited to announce the launch of OTB Signals, a groundbreaking tool designed to empower hoteliers with advanced analytics. This new solution represents the future of OTB data analysis, equipping industry professionals with the insights needed to navigate an increasingly competitive market landscape.
kalibrilabs.com
 
Agilysys guestsense.aiTM Powering Agilysys Spa Wins Top Productivity Technology Award at G2E 2024 and Will Be Featured in “The Lab”  
Agilysys, a leading global provider of hospitality software solutions and services, today announced that guestsense.ai – artificial intelligence (AI) embedded in several Agilysys solutions to improve revenue management, staff productivity, personalized guest experiences and other advantages – now powers new capabilities in Agilysys Spa that led to the solution’s earning the Gaming and Technology Gold Award 2025 for Best Productivity-Enhancing Technology at Global Gaming Expo (G2E) 2024.
www.agilysys.com

GUEST FACING TECHNOLOGY

Famed Park Lane New York Empowers Guests with Luxury and Convenience Through Deployment of InnSpire’s Full-Featured Mobile App and Integrated Services   
InnSpire, a leading provider of innovative hospitality technology solutions that help drive seamless, world-class guest experiences for some of the world’s most iconic hotels and brands, has partnered with Park Lane New York; a historic hotel located along Central Park South in Manhattan to provide a comprehensive suite of technology solutions designed to maximize and streamline the guest experience.
www.innspire.com

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Famous Foods Street Eats in Resorts World Las Vegas Serves Up Modern, Innovative Guest Dining Through the Agilysys InfoGenesis Point-of-Sale Platform and Kiosks
Agilysys, a leading global provider of hospitality software solutions and services, today announced that the gourmet market and food hall Famous Foods Street Eats at Resorts World Las Vegas has chosen the Agilysys InfoGenesis Point-of-Sale platform, guest-facing kiosks and related solutions to significantly improve operational efficiency and dining experiences across 16 diverse culinary stalls in its one-of-a-kind 24,000 square-foot dining emporium.
www.agilysys.com

MARKETING

‍Cogwheel Analytics Announces Launch of Hotel Digital Marketing Benchmarking Scorecard
This enterprise tool is crafted to transform how hotels assess their digital marketing performance. Tailored to meet the needs of hotel management companies, ownership groups and digital marketing agencies for both branded and independent hotels.
www.cogwheelanalytics.com
 
Cloudbeds and Mirai Join Forces To Transform Hotel Distribution and Marketing
Cloudbeds, a leading hospitality management software platform, and Mirai, a leader in hotel distribution technology and direct booking optimization, have today announced a strategic partnership aimed at transforming how hotels manage bookings, distribution, and marketing.
www.cloudbeds.com     www.mirai.com

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SALES & CATERING, GROUPS & MEETINGS

‍STS Cloud and Cloudbeds Unveil Powerful Integration to Transform Hotel Group Sales and Event Operations
SalesAndCatering.com and Cloudbeds have announced a two-way integration that will empower hotels, resorts, and conference centers to optimize hotel group sales and event management.
salesandcatering.com      www.cloudbeds.com      

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OPERATIONS

Ultimate All-In-One Solution: Maestro PMS + Silverware POS to Display Synched Solutions at Independent Hotel Show    
At the Independent Hotel Show London, to be held October 15-16 at Olympia London, a sophisticated All-In-One solution that synchronizes both systems on a shared database will be on display in Stand #1530. Maestro PMS + Silverware POS provides a direct link between the front desk, hotel guests, and diners through CRM, gift card management, loyalty programs, VIPs, SGIs and more.
www.maestropms.com     ww.silverwarepos.com
 
Cloudbeds Integrates PXier To Enhance Sales, Catering, and Spa Management Capabilities
Cloudbeds, a leading hospitality management software platform, has today announced a preferred partnership with PXier, a leader in sales, catering, and spa management software solutions.
www.cloudbeds.com     www.pxier.com
 
Agilysys Unveils Software Innovations at G2E 2024 to Help Gaming Properties Enhance Efficiency and Revenue While Elevating Guest and Staff Experiences   
Agilysys, a leading global provider of hospitality software solutions and services, today announced new and enhanced solutions gaming properties can use to elevate guest service, alleviate staff workload stress and streamline operations.
www.agilysys.com

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SECURITY

Security Validation | SecValMSSP Named to MSSP Alert’s 2024 List of Top 250 MSSPs
For the fourth year in a row Security Validation | SecValMSSP is ranked among the Top 250 MSSPs for 2024, according to MSSP Alert, a CyberRisk Alliance resource.
securityval.com
 
VENZA Releases AI Training Course for Hotel Security    
VENZA, a leading provider of data protection and regulatory compliance solutions for the hospitality industry, today unveiled its latest data protection and cybersecurity training course, “AI Applications in Data Security.” This course extends VENZA’s comprehensive training library to cover emerging AI-driven threats and AI-powered defenses, bringing its clients current, in-depth, advanced training on one of the most central technological changes affecting hoteliers.
venzagroup.com
 
VENZA Expands Language Options for Proctored Training 
VENZA, a leading provider of data protection and regulatory compliance solutions for the hospitality industry, today announced the expansion of its widely popular Proctored Training course by adding Vietnamese language accessibility.
venzagroup.com
 
VENZA Delivers Upon its Q3 Product Roadmap
VENZA, a leading provider of data protection and regulatory compliance solutions for the hospitality industry, today announced updates to its Product Roadmap, the company’s plan for upcoming security tools and features. Q3 saw significant enhancements and additions to key VENZA offerings, including sizable expansions to its training content, risk mitigation resources, and multilingual accessibility.
venzagroup.com
 
VENZA Champions Cybersecurity Awareness Month 2024
VENZA, a leading provider of data protection and regulatory compliance solutions for the hospitality industry, announced today it will champion cybersecurity education by joining the 21st Annual Cybersecurity Awareness Month—the world’s foremost initiative dedicated to promoting cybersecurity awareness and best practices.
venzagroup.com

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INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AND INTEGRATION

Tripleseat Announces Integration with Amaze Insights to Enhance Comprehensive Reporting for Hotels
Tripleseat, a leading event management software for hotels, restaurants, and unique venues, is excited to announce a new integration with Amaze Insights, a dynamic reporting platform designed to streamline data from multiple sales and catering (S&C) platforms. This integration aims to enhance the ability of hotel brands, management companies, and individual properties to drive occupancy and revenue by providing a comprehensive view of their sales data in a single, easy-to-use platform.
tripleseat.com
 
Hospitality America Strengthening Its Tech Stack to Enhance Business Intelligence and Decision-Making
Hospitality America is investing in its technology infrastructure aimed at revolutionizing business intelligence across its hotel portfolio. The initiative will empower leaders at both the property and corporate levels with real-time insights, actionable data, and robust forecasting capabilities to facilitate proactive and agile management.
www.hospitalityamerica.com
 
Aimbridge Hospitality Introduces Aimbridge Intelligence Data and Reporting Tool
Aimbridge Hospitality, a leading, global hotel management company and the world’s largest third-party hotel operator, is strengthening its technology leadership in the industry with a newly developed proprietary data reporting platform called Aimbridge Intelligence, built to provide greater transparency and collaboration with owners.
aimbridgehospitality.com

HOSPITALITY EDUCATION

The Tricycle of Guest Service Excellence: A Perfect Model For Remarkable Experiences
Join in as Doug explains how participants can use KTN’s model to help everyone understand that delivering remarkable hospitality experiences requires a “symbiotic” relationship to exist between all staff from all departments. Just like a tricycle has three wheels, there are three essential components of a memorable guest stay.
www.kennedytrainingnetwork.com
 
Gary Hernbroth Celebrates Release of New Book Twist the Familiar
Released on July 2, 2024, Twist the Familiar is chock full of curated stories that work as coaching lessons to help readers build their own playbook for success. It is designed to be a transformative resource for today’s success-oriented business leaders, sales professionals, entrepreneurs, or anyone who wants a boost to find that extra gear.
www.trainingforwinners.com

HOSPITALITY EVENTS AND ASSOCIATION NEWS

Supporting Communities Through the Storm: Resources for Those Impacted by Hurricane
As Florida braces for the impact of Hurricane Milton, the hospitality industry is rallying to support the state’s residents and communities throughout this challenging time. In crises like this, hotels often become places of refuge, offering shelter and resources to those in need, including first responders.
 
Agilysys to Report Fiscal 2025 Second Quarter Results October 28th and Host Conference Call and Webcast  
Agilysys, a leading global provider of hospitality software solutions and services that deliver High Return Hospitality, announced today that it will release its fiscal 2025 second quarter results after the market closes on Monday October 28, 2024, and host a conference call and webcast at 4:30 p.m. ET that day. Both the call and webcast are open to the public.
ww.agilysys.com
 
HFTP India Chapter to Host the Inaugural CIO Summit in Goa   
Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals (HFTP®) India Chapter is excited to announce its inaugural CIO Summit, scheduled for October 14-16, 2024, at the luxurious Taj Cidade Heritage, Goa. This landmark event will bring together industry leaders, technology innovators, and hospitality executives to delve into the rapidly evolving technological landscape within the hospitality sector.
www.hftp.org  
 
Commitment to Knowledge: HFTP Celebrates Robert Mandelbaum’s Impact in Hospitality Research  
Robert Mandelbaum, Research Director at CBRE Hotel Research, has long been a leader and educator in hospitality financial research and a dedicated contributor to HFTP. It is with great honor that HFTP will present Mandelbaum with the 2024 HFTP Paragon Award, recognizing his significant and lasting contributions to both the association and the hospitality industry. Mandelbaum will receive the award during the HFTP 2024 Annual Convention at the Keynote Session on October 23.
www.hftp.org   
 
HFTP Donates $25,000 to American Red Cross for Hurricane Relief Efforts 
Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals (HFTP®) announced today a donation of $25,000 to the American Red Cross in support of the relief efforts for communities affected by Hurricanes Debby, Helene, and Milton. This contribution is made through HFTP's philanthropic initiative, HFTP Helps, which aims to assist those in need.
www.hftp.org       www.redcross.org
 
AHLA, hotel industry leaders remain opposed to revised NYC hotel licensing bill   
After New York City Councilwoman Julie Menin shared a new version of her hotel licensing bill with industry stakeholders, hotel industry leaders released several statements. AHLA will continue to advocate for a simple licensing bill, which achieves the safety measures that the proponents of the bill say are their stated goal.
www.ahla.com
 
Upcoming HFTP Annual Convention Features Top Hotelier Panelists, Featured in New HFTP Academy Micro-certificate Program
A highlight of the Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals’ (HFTP) upcoming Annual Convention is the session, “Navigating Challenges in 2025: How Hotel Owners and Management Companies Can Collaborate Successfully.” Speaking on the panel are top hoteliers John Murray, president and CEO for Sonesta International Hotels Corp. and Blair Wills, president and CEO for StepStone Hospitality. Scheduled for October 23, the conversation will be moderated by Robert Mandelbaum, research director for CBRE Hotels Research and a director on the HFTP Global Board. The Annual Convention is October 23–25 at The Mohegan Sun Resort & Casino.
www.hftp.org

MARKET REPORTS

Travelers Are Spending Big This Holiday Season–With Higher Expectations Than Ever
Sojern, the leading digital marketing platform built for travel, today shares its latest travel data ahead of the holiday season and beyond. Travelers are eager to hit the road or skies, but economic concerns and inflation are widening the wealth gap.
Sojern
 
Chattanooga Ranks in the Top Five of Secondary Markets for the First Time in 2024
Cendyn reports that Las Vegas ranked first in the top 25 markets with 34.2 percent year-over-year (YoY) growth, positioning it in the top five markets for eight consecutive months; however, Chattanooga, Tenn. ranked in the top five secondary markets for the first time, coming in second with 62.7 percent meeting volume growth.
cendyn.com
 
The Hotelier’s Guide to Operational Excellence in 2025
The operational landscape continues to shift as hotels increasingly rely on data and efficiencies to stay competitive and meet guest expectations. This whitepaper explores five key areas where hotels can optimize operations, improve guest satisfaction, and drive profitability by harnessing data-driven tools and strategies.
otelier.io

PIQUED OUR INTEREST

All-in-One Platforms: Convenience or Costly Mistake for Hotels? / Joe Vargas

Free Food Map Now on Penn State Go App‍

Generative Ai In Travel - Weighing The Concerns Versus The Promise

Thanksgiving And Holiday Travel Trends In 2024: What You Need To Know

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I’ve lived in Atlanta now for 32 years. I’ve always had to travel for my job, but when I was starting out, I was completely broke, so it was all about the airfare. I used to fly TWA (yes, they created a hub here) and Value Jet - that was always an amazing experience.

I eventually worked my way up to Delta and have been a loyal Delta traveler for many years. One thing I liked about Delta was their investment in technology. I’ve gotten to know the technology leaders at Delta over the years, so I might have been influenced a bit. When Delta launched their Digital Id (which, of course, I signed up for right away) I never thought of any risk I might be taking. In this week’s Definitely Doug column that follows, Doug shares his thoughts about Facial Recognition and questions whether or not now is the time for hotels to take part in this innovation.

Hotels have historically followed the airline industry with technology advances, often following far behind. Facial recognition can be a big plus for the hotel industry, with the use of mobile and kiosk check in, front desk personnel automatically recognizing guests and their preferences without having to ask, etc. Doug points out the security concerns that often come with new technology. Is it time for hotels to embrace this technology? That’s the big question Doug asks in his article. Take a few minutes to read Definitely Doug this week, I promise it is eye-opening.

The season for events seems to be upon us. The recent Lodging Conference had over 2,900 attendees in Phoenix, it’s truly an amazing event. Upcoming is the HFTP Annual Conference which includes a meeting for the Hospitality Code of Digital Responsibility which has a very impressive group of technology leaders leading this initiative. The following week will be what I would like to believe is the new and improved Hospitality Show. It seems like the technology part of the show is being well supported and that is all I need to know to make sure I will be there. Plus, San Antonio is just a great place for conferences. I hope to see you in San Antonio at the end of of the month.

Here now is Definitely Doug and his deep dive into the world of Facial Recognition and Authentication. I will see you at the end with this week’s attempt at you-know-what. Thanks for reading and sharing.

Rich
rich@hospitalityupgrade.com

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Siegel Sez 10/18/24

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I’ve lived in Atlanta now for 32 years. I’ve always had to travel for my job, but when I was starting out, I was completely broke, so it was all about the airfare. I used to fly TWA (yes, they created a hub here) and Value Jet - that was always an amazing experience.

I eventually worked my way up to Delta and have been a loyal Delta traveler for many years. One thing I liked about Delta was their investment in technology. I’ve gotten to know the technology leaders at Delta over the years, so I might have been influenced a bit. When Delta launched their Digital Id (which, of course, I signed up for right away) I never thought of any risk I might be taking. In this week’s Definitely Doug column that follows, Doug shares his thoughts about Facial Recognition and questions whether or not now is the time for hotels to take part in this innovation.

Hotels have historically followed the airline industry with technology advances, often following far behind. Facial recognition can be a big plus for the hotel industry, with the use of mobile and kiosk check in, front desk personnel automatically recognizing guests and their preferences without having to ask, etc. Doug points out the security concerns that often come with new technology. Is it time for hotels to embrace this technology? That’s the big question Doug asks in his article. Take a few minutes to read Definitely Doug this week, I promise it is eye-opening.

The season for events seems to be upon us. The recent Lodging Conference had over 2,900 attendees in Phoenix, it’s truly an amazing event. Upcoming is the HFTP Annual Conference which includes a meeting for the Hospitality Code of Digital Responsibility which has a very impressive group of technology leaders leading this initiative. The following week will be what I would like to believe is the new and improved Hospitality Show. It seems like the technology part of the show is being well supported and that is all I need to know to make sure I will be there. Plus, San Antonio is just a great place for conferences. I hope to see you in San Antonio at the end of of the month.

Here now is Definitely Doug and his deep dive into the world of Facial Recognition and Authentication. I will see you at the end with this week’s attempt at you-know-what. Thanks for reading and sharing.

Rich
rich@hospitalityupgrade.com

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Definitely Doug 10/18/24: Facial Recognition and Authentication: Is Now the Time?

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Biometrics technologies in general, and facial recognition and authentication in particular, are complex and rapidly improving. They can reduce many risks for hotels and improve personalization of service, but they can also create data security risks and breach liabilities if not properly managed. This is not a technology that I would recommend universally today, but it is starting to make sense for more and more hotels as it gets better and cheaper. Today’s column will try to parse the issues so you can evaluate whether the time is right for your hotel to take a closer look.

Facial recognition and authentication are related but different technologies. Facial recognition typically uses stored biometric data against a live camera feed to identify individuals who appear on the camera and whose biometric facial profiles (digital representations of their face) are stored in a database. Facial authentication is used to verify someone’s identity, typically by comparing the biometrics of a face in a live photo or video stream to one depicted on an identity document such as passport or driver’s license, or in a database.

These technologies are becoming more appropriate for many hotels than in the past, depending on your market segment, location, and other factors. Key changes include the following (assuming guest consent where required; more about that later):

  • A significant reduction in cost, as software matures and increasingly reuses already-in-place cameras and mobile devices, and commercially available AI video processing software
  • Ability to prove that a credit card was presented by the actual cardholder, reducing chargeback risk
  • Better functionality from products designed to identify a guest approaching a staff member, to display the guest’s photo to help the staff recognize them, and to display context-relevant personalization information (such as food allergies at a restaurant or beverage preferences at the bar)
  •  Increased deployment of digital wallets (planned for release and government support in all EU countries by 2026), enabling guests to control the sharing of their biometrics (such as passport photo) digitally rather than by providing the physical document at check-in and requiring the hotel to retain a coy
  •  A reduction or elimination of the need for hotels to store sensitive information (such as those passport photos), as well as far better security where the need remains
  • Better physical security within the hotel from the ability of the cameras and video analytics to recognize anomalies that may pose threats
  • Growing support from providers of hotel property management and mobile app software
  • Better identification of repeat guests who may book through different distribution channels, making them frequently difficult to deduplicate in customer databases

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Beyond identification and authentication, there are other benefits from deploying the cameras and software that support facial biometrics. Some hotels are using these capabilities to measure crowd sizes in common spaces, to count the number of people in a queue, to detect the presence of room service trays in the guest-room corridors, to recognize guest license plates as they approach the porte cochère, or to report medical issues such as a guest or staff member who has fallen in a monitored area.

I am indebted to leaders at several companies for the research behind this article, including Youverse, which provides privacy-preserving face authentication solutions used by both banks and hotels, and Neoma, which uses facial recognition to enable more personalized guest service, especially in luxury hotels. In past discussions regarding facial authentication for mobile and kiosk check-in, several other companies provided me with insights that also informed today’s article, including Canary Technologies, Duve, hudini, and Virdee.

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Click here to read more of Doug's column:
Definitely Doug 10/18/24: Facial Recognition and Authentication: Is Now the Time?

Douglas Rice
Email: douglas.rice@hosptech.net
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/ricedouglas

CORPORATE NEWS

Hotel tech specialist SHR and Host PMS become go-to-market partners in Spain, Portugal and Latin America   
Hotel technology specialist SHR has established a landmark partnership with Host Hotel Systems, the PMS for hotels, to go to market in some of the world’s major tourism locations as a complete package of tools.
shrgroup.com     hostpms.com
 
Hilton and Be My Eyes Launch Industry‑First Partnership to Enhance the Hilton Stay for Guests who are Blind or Low Vision    
Hilton, a global leader in hospitality, announced today an industry-first, exclusive partnership with Be My Eyes to ensure guests who are blind or have low vision can experience a more accessible, seamless and welcoming stay. Together with Be My Eyes, Hilton is making available AI-powered assistance and dedicated Hilton Reservations and Customer Care support to guests who are blind or have low vision across the U.S. and Canada.
www.hilton.com     www.bemyeyes.com
 
Cendyn Acquires Knowland and Announces Private Equity Partner Haveli Investments
Cendyn, a global hospitality cloud-based technology company, has acquired Knowland, the US-based leader in data-as-a-service intelligence on meetings and events for hospitality. The strategic acquisition presents an opportunity to enhance sales prospecting by yielding greater bookings in the MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences, and events) space.
cendyn.com     www.knowland.com

PEOPLE ON THE MOVE

Jeff Bzdawka Joins Hapi as President
Hapi, a leading provider of hospitality data and connectivity solutions, announces the appointment of Jeff Bzdawka as company President. Bzdawka brings over 30 years of hospitality experience to Hapi, with a proven track record of building customer and colleague-focused solutions, scaling teams, and driving growth.
www.hapicloud.io
 
Mews Announces SaaS IPO Icon, Steve Cakebread, to Join Its Board
Mews, a cloud SaaS and fintech platform that serves the hospitality industry, has announced today the appointment of Steve Cakebread to the company’s board.
Mews

GUEST MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS

Spokane Tribe Resort & Casino Partners with Travel Outlook to Elevate Guest Service Experience
Travel Outlook, a premier hotel call center, proudly announces its latest partnership with Spokane Tribe Resort & Casino, a leading gaming and entertainment destination in the Pacific Northwest. This collaboration will enhance the resort’s guest services by providing seamless, high-quality call center solutions. Travel Outlook’s unique combination of advanced technology and personalized human touch aligns perfectly with Spokane Tribe Resort & Casino’s commitment to offering unforgettable guest experiences.
traveloutlook.com      spokanetribecasino.com

REVENUE MANAGEMENT & ANALYTICS

Kalibri Labs Unveils OTB Signals
Kalibri Labs is excited to announce the launch of OTB Signals, a groundbreaking tool designed to empower hoteliers with advanced analytics. This new solution represents the future of OTB data analysis, equipping industry professionals with the insights needed to navigate an increasingly competitive market landscape.
kalibrilabs.com
 
Agilysys guestsense.aiTM Powering Agilysys Spa Wins Top Productivity Technology Award at G2E 2024 and Will Be Featured in “The Lab”  
Agilysys, a leading global provider of hospitality software solutions and services, today announced that guestsense.ai – artificial intelligence (AI) embedded in several Agilysys solutions to improve revenue management, staff productivity, personalized guest experiences and other advantages – now powers new capabilities in Agilysys Spa that led to the solution’s earning the Gaming and Technology Gold Award 2025 for Best Productivity-Enhancing Technology at Global Gaming Expo (G2E) 2024.
www.agilysys.com

GUEST FACING TECHNOLOGY

Famed Park Lane New York Empowers Guests with Luxury and Convenience Through Deployment of InnSpire’s Full-Featured Mobile App and Integrated Services   
InnSpire, a leading provider of innovative hospitality technology solutions that help drive seamless, world-class guest experiences for some of the world’s most iconic hotels and brands, has partnered with Park Lane New York; a historic hotel located along Central Park South in Manhattan to provide a comprehensive suite of technology solutions designed to maximize and streamline the guest experience.
www.innspire.com

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Famous Foods Street Eats in Resorts World Las Vegas Serves Up Modern, Innovative Guest Dining Through the Agilysys InfoGenesis Point-of-Sale Platform and Kiosks
Agilysys, a leading global provider of hospitality software solutions and services, today announced that the gourmet market and food hall Famous Foods Street Eats at Resorts World Las Vegas has chosen the Agilysys InfoGenesis Point-of-Sale platform, guest-facing kiosks and related solutions to significantly improve operational efficiency and dining experiences across 16 diverse culinary stalls in its one-of-a-kind 24,000 square-foot dining emporium.
www.agilysys.com

MARKETING

‍Cogwheel Analytics Announces Launch of Hotel Digital Marketing Benchmarking Scorecard
This enterprise tool is crafted to transform how hotels assess their digital marketing performance. Tailored to meet the needs of hotel management companies, ownership groups and digital marketing agencies for both branded and independent hotels.
www.cogwheelanalytics.com
 
Cloudbeds and Mirai Join Forces To Transform Hotel Distribution and Marketing
Cloudbeds, a leading hospitality management software platform, and Mirai, a leader in hotel distribution technology and direct booking optimization, have today announced a strategic partnership aimed at transforming how hotels manage bookings, distribution, and marketing.
www.cloudbeds.com     www.mirai.com

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SALES & CATERING, GROUPS & MEETINGS

‍STS Cloud and Cloudbeds Unveil Powerful Integration to Transform Hotel Group Sales and Event Operations
SalesAndCatering.com and Cloudbeds have announced a two-way integration that will empower hotels, resorts, and conference centers to optimize hotel group sales and event management.
salesandcatering.com      www.cloudbeds.com      

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OPERATIONS

Ultimate All-In-One Solution: Maestro PMS + Silverware POS to Display Synched Solutions at Independent Hotel Show    
At the Independent Hotel Show London, to be held October 15-16 at Olympia London, a sophisticated All-In-One solution that synchronizes both systems on a shared database will be on display in Stand #1530. Maestro PMS + Silverware POS provides a direct link between the front desk, hotel guests, and diners through CRM, gift card management, loyalty programs, VIPs, SGIs and more.
www.maestropms.com     ww.silverwarepos.com
 
Cloudbeds Integrates PXier To Enhance Sales, Catering, and Spa Management Capabilities
Cloudbeds, a leading hospitality management software platform, has today announced a preferred partnership with PXier, a leader in sales, catering, and spa management software solutions.
www.cloudbeds.com     www.pxier.com
 
Agilysys Unveils Software Innovations at G2E 2024 to Help Gaming Properties Enhance Efficiency and Revenue While Elevating Guest and Staff Experiences   
Agilysys, a leading global provider of hospitality software solutions and services, today announced new and enhanced solutions gaming properties can use to elevate guest service, alleviate staff workload stress and streamline operations.
www.agilysys.com

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SECURITY

Security Validation | SecValMSSP Named to MSSP Alert’s 2024 List of Top 250 MSSPs
For the fourth year in a row Security Validation | SecValMSSP is ranked among the Top 250 MSSPs for 2024, according to MSSP Alert, a CyberRisk Alliance resource.
securityval.com
 
VENZA Releases AI Training Course for Hotel Security    
VENZA, a leading provider of data protection and regulatory compliance solutions for the hospitality industry, today unveiled its latest data protection and cybersecurity training course, “AI Applications in Data Security.” This course extends VENZA’s comprehensive training library to cover emerging AI-driven threats and AI-powered defenses, bringing its clients current, in-depth, advanced training on one of the most central technological changes affecting hoteliers.
venzagroup.com
 
VENZA Expands Language Options for Proctored Training 
VENZA, a leading provider of data protection and regulatory compliance solutions for the hospitality industry, today announced the expansion of its widely popular Proctored Training course by adding Vietnamese language accessibility.
venzagroup.com
 
VENZA Delivers Upon its Q3 Product Roadmap
VENZA, a leading provider of data protection and regulatory compliance solutions for the hospitality industry, today announced updates to its Product Roadmap, the company’s plan for upcoming security tools and features. Q3 saw significant enhancements and additions to key VENZA offerings, including sizable expansions to its training content, risk mitigation resources, and multilingual accessibility.
venzagroup.com
 
VENZA Champions Cybersecurity Awareness Month 2024
VENZA, a leading provider of data protection and regulatory compliance solutions for the hospitality industry, announced today it will champion cybersecurity education by joining the 21st Annual Cybersecurity Awareness Month—the world’s foremost initiative dedicated to promoting cybersecurity awareness and best practices.
venzagroup.com

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INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AND INTEGRATION

Tripleseat Announces Integration with Amaze Insights to Enhance Comprehensive Reporting for Hotels
Tripleseat, a leading event management software for hotels, restaurants, and unique venues, is excited to announce a new integration with Amaze Insights, a dynamic reporting platform designed to streamline data from multiple sales and catering (S&C) platforms. This integration aims to enhance the ability of hotel brands, management companies, and individual properties to drive occupancy and revenue by providing a comprehensive view of their sales data in a single, easy-to-use platform.
tripleseat.com
 
Hospitality America Strengthening Its Tech Stack to Enhance Business Intelligence and Decision-Making
Hospitality America is investing in its technology infrastructure aimed at revolutionizing business intelligence across its hotel portfolio. The initiative will empower leaders at both the property and corporate levels with real-time insights, actionable data, and robust forecasting capabilities to facilitate proactive and agile management.
www.hospitalityamerica.com
 
Aimbridge Hospitality Introduces Aimbridge Intelligence Data and Reporting Tool
Aimbridge Hospitality, a leading, global hotel management company and the world’s largest third-party hotel operator, is strengthening its technology leadership in the industry with a newly developed proprietary data reporting platform called Aimbridge Intelligence, built to provide greater transparency and collaboration with owners.
aimbridgehospitality.com

HOSPITALITY EDUCATION

The Tricycle of Guest Service Excellence: A Perfect Model For Remarkable Experiences
Join in as Doug explains how participants can use KTN’s model to help everyone understand that delivering remarkable hospitality experiences requires a “symbiotic” relationship to exist between all staff from all departments. Just like a tricycle has three wheels, there are three essential components of a memorable guest stay.
www.kennedytrainingnetwork.com
 
Gary Hernbroth Celebrates Release of New Book Twist the Familiar
Released on July 2, 2024, Twist the Familiar is chock full of curated stories that work as coaching lessons to help readers build their own playbook for success. It is designed to be a transformative resource for today’s success-oriented business leaders, sales professionals, entrepreneurs, or anyone who wants a boost to find that extra gear.
www.trainingforwinners.com

HOSPITALITY EVENTS AND ASSOCIATION NEWS

Supporting Communities Through the Storm: Resources for Those Impacted by Hurricane
As Florida braces for the impact of Hurricane Milton, the hospitality industry is rallying to support the state’s residents and communities throughout this challenging time. In crises like this, hotels often become places of refuge, offering shelter and resources to those in need, including first responders.
 
Agilysys to Report Fiscal 2025 Second Quarter Results October 28th and Host Conference Call and Webcast  
Agilysys, a leading global provider of hospitality software solutions and services that deliver High Return Hospitality, announced today that it will release its fiscal 2025 second quarter results after the market closes on Monday October 28, 2024, and host a conference call and webcast at 4:30 p.m. ET that day. Both the call and webcast are open to the public.
ww.agilysys.com
 
HFTP India Chapter to Host the Inaugural CIO Summit in Goa   
Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals (HFTP®) India Chapter is excited to announce its inaugural CIO Summit, scheduled for October 14-16, 2024, at the luxurious Taj Cidade Heritage, Goa. This landmark event will bring together industry leaders, technology innovators, and hospitality executives to delve into the rapidly evolving technological landscape within the hospitality sector.
www.hftp.org  
 
Commitment to Knowledge: HFTP Celebrates Robert Mandelbaum’s Impact in Hospitality Research  
Robert Mandelbaum, Research Director at CBRE Hotel Research, has long been a leader and educator in hospitality financial research and a dedicated contributor to HFTP. It is with great honor that HFTP will present Mandelbaum with the 2024 HFTP Paragon Award, recognizing his significant and lasting contributions to both the association and the hospitality industry. Mandelbaum will receive the award during the HFTP 2024 Annual Convention at the Keynote Session on October 23.
www.hftp.org   
 
HFTP Donates $25,000 to American Red Cross for Hurricane Relief Efforts 
Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals (HFTP®) announced today a donation of $25,000 to the American Red Cross in support of the relief efforts for communities affected by Hurricanes Debby, Helene, and Milton. This contribution is made through HFTP's philanthropic initiative, HFTP Helps, which aims to assist those in need.
www.hftp.org       www.redcross.org
 
AHLA, hotel industry leaders remain opposed to revised NYC hotel licensing bill   
After New York City Councilwoman Julie Menin shared a new version of her hotel licensing bill with industry stakeholders, hotel industry leaders released several statements. AHLA will continue to advocate for a simple licensing bill, which achieves the safety measures that the proponents of the bill say are their stated goal.
www.ahla.com
 
Upcoming HFTP Annual Convention Features Top Hotelier Panelists, Featured in New HFTP Academy Micro-certificate Program
A highlight of the Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals’ (HFTP) upcoming Annual Convention is the session, “Navigating Challenges in 2025: How Hotel Owners and Management Companies Can Collaborate Successfully.” Speaking on the panel are top hoteliers John Murray, president and CEO for Sonesta International Hotels Corp. and Blair Wills, president and CEO for StepStone Hospitality. Scheduled for October 23, the conversation will be moderated by Robert Mandelbaum, research director for CBRE Hotels Research and a director on the HFTP Global Board. The Annual Convention is October 23–25 at The Mohegan Sun Resort & Casino.
www.hftp.org

MARKET REPORTS

Travelers Are Spending Big This Holiday Season–With Higher Expectations Than Ever
Sojern, the leading digital marketing platform built for travel, today shares its latest travel data ahead of the holiday season and beyond. Travelers are eager to hit the road or skies, but economic concerns and inflation are widening the wealth gap.
Sojern
 
Chattanooga Ranks in the Top Five of Secondary Markets for the First Time in 2024
Cendyn reports that Las Vegas ranked first in the top 25 markets with 34.2 percent year-over-year (YoY) growth, positioning it in the top five markets for eight consecutive months; however, Chattanooga, Tenn. ranked in the top five secondary markets for the first time, coming in second with 62.7 percent meeting volume growth.
cendyn.com
 
The Hotelier’s Guide to Operational Excellence in 2025
The operational landscape continues to shift as hotels increasingly rely on data and efficiencies to stay competitive and meet guest expectations. This whitepaper explores five key areas where hotels can optimize operations, improve guest satisfaction, and drive profitability by harnessing data-driven tools and strategies.
otelier.io

PIQUED OUR INTEREST

All-in-One Platforms: Convenience or Costly Mistake for Hotels? / Joe Vargas

Free Food Map Now on Penn State Go App‍

Generative Ai In Travel - Weighing The Concerns Versus The Promise

Thanksgiving And Holiday Travel Trends In 2024: What You Need To Know

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And now for you-know-what...

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Discover Return On Experience

Three ecosystems — Hospitality & Leisure, Food & Beverage, and Inventory & Procurement — operate independently and together depending on your needs.

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7 Questions to Ask Before You Invest in a Hotel Mobile App

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Tyme Global's Skye Implementation: A Boston Hotel's Success Story

A prestigious 1,000-room hotel in Boston transitioned from a competitor's AI, which limited simultaneous interactions, to trial Tyme Global's Skye AI.

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