Simone Puorto
(He/Him)
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Artificial Intelligence, Generative AI, Technophilosophy, Transhumanism, Web3, Blockchain, Crypto, Metaverse, NFT, Hospitality, Travel, Automation, Ethics, Robotics, Decentralization, RPA
NEW BOOK OUT NOW! Global Hospitality Top 100 Thought Leader, Published Author (6x), Keynote Speaker, Founder of Travel Singularity & Elegia
Articles by Simone Puorto
Have hotel websites become the least important part of the digital customer journey?
Expert Views (16) Hotel websites are not becoming unimportant, but they have shifted from being a competitive differentiator to essential digital infrastructure. A beautiful website will rarely win a guest if the price parity is poor, the online reputation is mediocre, or the property is invisible on AI discovery platforms. However, a broken, slow, or fragmented website can easily lose a high-intent guest at the final step.
Choosing Humans: Hospitality’s Next Premium
From ancient Roman hospitality to artificial intelligence, the Reverse Uncanny Valley, and the future of human connection. Reflections from Infor Hospitality Connect. The author argues that as automation becomes the default in hospitality, choosing human staff over machines may redefine luxury, proposing a framework of technocentric, hybrid, and anthropocentric hotel models.
Hospitality Net | Hospitality Net
Founded in 1994 in Maastricht, the Netherlands, Hospitality Net is the #1 B2B portal for global hotel professionals and one of the longest-running independent hospitality B2B publications in the world. Hospitality Net acts as a neutral broker and publisher of hotel business information, built on a membership model for all stakeholders in the global hotel industry.
The Collins College of Hospitality Management | Cal Poly Pomona
Skip to main content As the oldest and largest four-year hospitality management program in California, The Collins College of Hospitality Management offers students a vibrant education firmly rooted in hospitality management theories and real-world applications. With an engaging curriculum, our renowned faculty members bring their hospitality industry expertise right into the classroom.
Is SEO the most overrated discipline in hospitality?
Expert Views (14) Not true! The first rationale is that SEO now has significant overlap with AEO and GEO in terms of helping serve all the channels that will be important for AI travel search visibility. So, a focus on what drives SEO will inevitably aid in AI-driven hotel recommendations and, in the future, AI bookings. Next is the argument against SEO as a 'set it and forget it' exercise.
Soler & Associates
Skip to main content After a string of successes in hotel management, hotel marketing and hotel technology startups the next logical step for Martin Soler, was to build a company to help hotels, hotel technology companies and travel tech startups build and scale their efforts to a global audience. Soler & Associates' was created as a means to assist companies grow their marketing efforts and appeal to their audiences.
Are Morch, AI Champion
Are is a digital transformation coach helping hotels open their digital front door, reimagine their processes and culture, and transform experiences in a fast-paced world! In his free time, Are and his wife has transformed abused and abandoned horses providing them a better opportunity to do what they were meant to do. “To me hospitality and digital transformation are art. It is like a painter that uses a combination of colors to create a picture.
Do We Need More Leonardo da Vinci in Hotel Marketing?
For decades, we’ve rewarded hyper-specialisation: learn MORE about LESS. Become an SEO expert. A Social Media Manager. Master your niche, and let everyone else worry about theirs. And yet, every time I work on a new project, I find myself wishing I had a couple of "Leonardos" on the team. Some context: I’m currently working on two new projects. One is the launch of a website for a hotel group. The other is a digital agency transition for another.
Cogwheel Marketing & Analytics
Skip to main content Helping hotel owners drive incremental revenue to their website through digital marketing. Content from Cogwheel Marketing & Analytics Cogwheel Marketing shares hands-on results from the ChatGPT Ads beta for hotels, including targeting options, CPC benchmarks ($3–$3.50), CTRs of 1.6–1.9%, and July 2026 platform updates.
Are We Overestimating Specialisation in Hotel Marketing?
Expert Views (13) Thank you, Simone, for raising a critical question about marketers’ essential role as AI reshapes the workplace. I see broader applications of this question across job functions beyond marketing. Specialization remains important in hotel marketing. We still need experts who deeply understand analytics, SEO, advertising, CRM, revenue management, and technology.
Homo Hackabilis: Why Hack a Server When You Can Just Call a Human?
This week, I found myself dealing with the fourth cybersecurity incident involving one of my clients, virtually identical to the others I’ve seen over the past few months. And by the fourth one, I started to suspect that the problem with cybersecurity has much less to do with the "cyber" and much more to do with the "security" that Mother Nature forgot to install in our brains.
Can AI Ads Become the New Metasearch Ads?
Expert Views (15) The booking itself isn't the important part—it's the fact that it can be fully tracked from an AI conversation to a completed reservation. Right now, AI advertising generates very little volume, but every new channel starts small. Hotel metasearch followed a similar path before becoming a major source of direct bookings. AI could go even further because it helps travellers discover hotels, not just compare prices.
Demand Calendar AB
Demand Calendar is a Business Intelligence platform for independent hotel groups with 5–65 properties and single hotels with 300+ rooms that operate multi-revenue-stream operations, including rooms, F&B, meetings, events, and spa. The platform replaces the spreadsheets, disconnected reports, and competing versions of "the numbers" that fragment commercial teams, and gives finance, sales, and revenue management a single source of truth.
Is zero rate leakage actually possible?
Expert Views (9) Hotels should continue reducing unnecessary rate leakage because it protects pricing integrity, strengthens partner relationships and improves profitability. But pursuing absolute zero leakage is increasingly unrealistic in a fragmented global distribution ecosystem.
Firmdale Hotels | Hospitality Net
Among the cobblestone streets and red brick accents found in downtown Tribeca, Firmdale Hotels’ third New York property, the Warren Street Hotel, sticks out with its striking blue exterior and bright yellow top developed by architecture firm, Stonehill Taylor. The property, which is the sister hotel to Crosby Street in SoHo and The Whitby in Midtown, comes from the hands of British designer and Firmdale founder, Kit Kemp, and her daughters, Minnie and Willow.
For Whom the Algorithm Ranks: What Ernest Hemingway Can Teach Us About GEO
A Hemingway-inspired perspective on Generative Engine Optimization and what hospitality brands can learn about visibility in AI-driven search. By Simone Puorto, Head of Emerging Trends and Strategic Innovation, Hospitality Net There's a story about Ernest Hemingway: every morning he would sit down and write. Not when inspiration struck, not when he felt particularly creative, but every single day, treating writing with the discipline of a bodybuilder rather than the temperament of an artist.
Afterword: Loving the Alien. Hospitality at the Edge of the Human Era
By Simone Puorto, Head of Emerging Trends and Strategic Innovation, Hospitality Net There is a tendency, whenever a new technology emerges, to describe it using the language of those that came before it.
Why Running Hotel Operations on WhatsApp Is the Equivalent of Managing Your Business on Personal Gmail — A Conversation with Guy Weiss, CEO of Zenzap
Zenzap CEO Guy Weiss argues that hospitality's reliance on WhatsApp for operations creates data loss, privacy, and security risks, and that purpose-built work communication can cut turnover by up to 50%.
When Humans Act Like Robots: Michael Levie on citizenM and the Reverse Uncanny Valley
citizenM co-founder Michael Levie argues hospitality's real problem is humans behaving like robots, and that automation should free staff for genuine human moments, not replace them. Simone Puorto and Michael Levie (right) Photo by Hospitality Net This Interview is part of the EHL HumanX Summit 2026 Rewind thematics campaign.
Design the Experience Before the Building: Alina Hernandez on Experience as Infrastructure
At the EHL HumanX Summit in Lausanne, Simone Puorto sat down with Alina Hernandez, founder of the Wellness Innovation Hub and co-chair of the Global Wellness Institute's Mental Wellness Initiative. Hernandez calls herself an experience architect, and her central claim is that the experience should be designed before the building rather than bolted on afterwards. She came to the conversation with a clear method and a low tolerance for guesswork. The full conversation is available to watch below.
The Spirits Company That Builds Destinations: Laura Sileo Pavat on Pernod Ricard
Pernod Ricard's Global Brand Homes Director Laura Sileo Pavat outlines how the spirits giant welcomes 1 million visitors annually across distilleries and châteaux, using five key elements to maintain personal guest connections at scale. Simone Puorto and Laura Sileo Pavat (right) Photo by Hospitality Net This Interview is part of the EHL HumanX Summit 2026 Rewind thematics campaign.
Design for More Than the Super-User: Kelly Ommundsen on Who Hospitality Tech Leaves Behind
Kelly Ommundsen of the World Economic Forum argues hospitality tech is over-designed for confident users, under-regulated, and too often deployed without asking what problem it actually solves. Simone Puorto and Kelly Ommundsen (right) Photo by Hospitality Net This Interview is part of the EHL HumanX Summit 2026 Rewind thematics campaign.
Invisible to the AI: Mirko Lalli on Why Hospitality Is Not Ready
Mirko Lalli warns that 80% of AI travel suggestions come from OTAs, leaving most hotels invisible, and argues that 70% of the fix is content strategy, not technology. Simone Puorto and Mirko Lalli (right) Photo by Data Appeal This Interview is part of the EHL HumanX Summit 2026 Rewind thematics campaign. At the EHL HumanX Summit in Lausanne, Simone Puorto sat down with Mirko Lalli, founder of The Data Appeal Company and a long-time friend.
Why a 'Generation Translator' Would Backfire: Ilona Guérin on the Next Generation of Hoteliers
EHL student and Young Hospitality Summit president Ilona Guérin argues Gen Z hoteliers are driven and passionate, but warns formalising "generation translator" roles would widen, not bridge, the gap. Simone Puorto and Ilona Guérin (right) Photo by Hospitality Net This Interview is part of the EHL HumanX Summit 2026 Rewind thematics campaign.
Using AI to Teach the Most Human Skill: Sowon Kim on Difficult Conversations
EHL's Dr Sowon Kim uses AI-powered role-play avatars to train hospitality leaders in high-stakes interpersonal skills, and discusses loneliness, empathy, and her Women in Leadership programme. Simone Puorto and Sowon Kim (right) Photo by Hospitality Net This Interview is part of the EHL HumanX Summit 2026 Rewind thematics campaign. At the EHL HumanX Summit in Lausanne, Simone Puorto sat down with Dr Sowon Kim, Associate Professor at EHL and founder of its Women in Leadership programme.
What 200 Restaurants Taught Him About Running Hotels: Christian Hürlimann on HotellerieSuisse
HotellerieSuisse director Christian Hürlimann draws on 20 years overseeing 200 catering outlets to argue that empowering middle managers, using AI for back-of-house efficiency, and trusting staff to resolve guest issues are the keys to better hotel leadership. Simone Puorto and Christian Hürlimann (right) Photo by Hospitality Net This Interview is part of the EHL HumanX Summit 2026 Rewind thematics campaign.
'We're Not Less Committed': Billy Turnbull on What the Industry Gets Wrong About His Generation
EHL student Billy Turnbull argues Gen Z hotel workers aren't uncommitted, but that outdated behind-the-scenes tech and grueling shift cultures are the real drivers of early attrition. Simone Puorto and Billy Turnbull (right) Photo by Hospitality Net This Interview is part of the EHL HumanX Summit 2026 Rewind thematics campaign.
Keep the Helicopter View: Bernold Schroeder on Leading Through Crisis
Kempinski veteran Bernold Schroeder shares lessons from leading through Covid and multiple Asian crises, including the value of helicopter thinking, overcommunication, and empathy over technical brilliance. Simone Puorto and Bernold O. Schroeder (right) Photo by Hospitality Net This Interview is part of the EHL HumanX Summit 2026 Rewind thematics campaign. At the EHL HumanX Summit in Lausanne, Simone Puorto sat down with Bernold Schroeder, CEO and Managing Partner of MINPER Hotels.
Lipstick on Legacy: Aradhana Khowala on What Regeneration Really Means
Dr. Aradhana Khowala, CEO of Aptamind Partners, challenges the hospitality industry to move beyond sustainability theatre, arguing regeneration requires measurable outcomes, community benefit, and a systemic redesign, not new vocabulary. Simone Puorto and Dr. Aradhana Khowala (right) Photo by Hospitality Net This Interview is part of the EHL HumanX Summit 2026 Rewind thematics campaign.
A Floating Hotel Whose Address Is the Ocean: Anna Nash on Explora Journeys
Explora Journeys President Anna Nash discusses reframing ocean travel as a floating luxury hotel experience, with 30% first-time sailors and a fleet growing to six ships by 2028. Simone Puorto and Anna Nash (right) Photo by Hospitality Net This Interview is part of the EHL HumanX Summit 2026 Rewind thematics campaign. At the EHL HumanX Summit in Lausanne, Simone Puorto sat down with Anna Nash, President of Explora Journeys, the ultra-luxury ocean travel brand of the MSC Group.
We're Measuring the Wrong Things: Andrea Monti on Innovation and Impact
EHL Next CEO Andrea Monti argues hospitality over-relies on ADR and RevPAR, calls for impact metrics covering workforce and community value, and challenges the industry to prove AI actually frees staff time. Simone Puorto and Andrea Monti (right) Photo by Hospitality Net This Interview is part of the EHL HumanX Summit 2026 Rewind thematics campaign. At the EHL HumanX Summit in Lausanne, which he helped organise, Simone Puorto sat down with Andrea Monti, CEO of EHL Next.
When Two Worn-Out Systems Meet: Maria Haggo on the Neuroscience of Hospitality
Maria Haggo, brain health strategist and ex-hotelier, argues that staff burnout and dysregulated nervous systems directly undermine guest experience, and that psychological safety is a practical fix. Simone Puorto and Maria Haggo (right) Photo by Hospitality Net This Interview is part of the EHL HumanX Summit 2026 Rewind thematics campaign.
Empathy Is Something You Design, Not Something You Hope For: Adrienne Boissy on What Healthcare Can Teach Hospitality
At the EHL HumanX Summit in Lausanne, Simone Puorto sat down with Dr Adrienne Boissy, Chief Medical Officer at Qualtrics, a neurologist who still treats patients with multiple sclerosis, a former Chief Experience Officer of the Cleveland Clinic, an ethicist, and, by her own account, a washed-up ballerina who can also bartend. She brought healthcare's harder-edged view of experience to a room full of hoteliers, and the contrast between the two fields ran through the whole conversation.
From Making the Rich Richer to Making Meals: Christine Merckelbagh on Dignity and Work
Label Gamelle, founded in Paris in 2020, employs homeless people and refugees as its first job in France, turning surplus food into 2,500+ meals daily while achieving 80% housing and employment outcomes within 18 months. Simone Puorto and Christine Merckelbagh (right) Photo by Label Gamelle This Interview is part of the EHL HumanX Summit 2026 Rewind thematics campaign.
I Don't Design Spaces, I Design Portraits: Adam Tihany on Emotion, Control and Turning His Back on Technology
Legendary designer Adam Tihany argues emotion in hospitality spaces comes from control and storytelling, and dismisses technology at the table as harmful to genuine warmth and luxury. Simone Puorto and Adam Tihany (right) Photo by Tihany Design This Interview is part of the EHL HumanX Summit 2026 Rewind thematics campaign.
Hospitality Got Too Comfortable: EHL's Achim Schmitt on Decline, Talent and the Limits of Technology
EHL Dean Achim Schmitt, speaking at EHL HumanX in Lausanne, argues that decades of growth left hospitality complacent, and that retention, human skills and authentic local talent matter more than headcount cuts or automation. Humanx Summit 2026 Day Two Where the Agreement Ended (5) Photo by EHL This Interview is part of the EHL HumanX Summit 2026 Rewind thematics campaign.
The Gym Is the Front Door: Christopher Norton on Equinox Hotels
Equinox Hotels CEO Christopher Norton shares how he built a hotel brand around health pillars including fitness, nutrition, recovery, and sleep, pulling 1,500 locals daily through a 60,000 sq ft gym. Simone Purto and Chris Norton (right) Photo by Hospitality Net At the EHL HumanX Summit in Lausanne, Simone Puorto sat down with Christopher Norton, founding CEO of Equinox Hotels.
When Numbers Aren't Enough: Accor Deputy CEO Jean-Jacques Morin on Leadership
Accor Deputy CEO Jean-Jacques Morin, speaking at EHL HumanX in Lausanne, argues that human relationships trump data in hospitality and that AI should augment, not replace, the people behind the brand. At the EHL HumanX Summit in Lausanne, Simone Puorto sat down with Jean-Jacques Morin, Deputy CEO of Accor. Morin came to hospitality late and from a long way off.
Are AI connectors solving a problem that does not exist?
Expert Views (18) The AI platforms need to monetize their traffic, since AI computing is exceptionally expensive! The quickest way to do so is to partner with well-established travel brands and to start earning affiliate commissions from them. To achieve that, AI connectors play a crucial role, but what kind of connectors? The keyword here is “invisible B2B connectors” that service well established hotel and travel brands, but remain invisible in the background.
Quis coniungit ipsos coniungentes? (Who connects the connectors?): A seamless travel journey in search of a traveler
The other day, I had a call with a company I would rather not name explicitly, which showed me their direct-booking app in ChatGPT. There is actually no need to name the company, as what makes the example relevant here is not the company itself, but what it represents. This, like many B2B platforms, is a layer that sits deep within the hospitality infrastructure, providing value to operators while remaining largely invisible to end users, the travelers.
Simone Puorto, Head of Innovation at Hospitality Net, Talks AI on the Resilient Tourism Podcast
Puorto discusses AI as a new interface replacing traditional software navigation and explores how human presence may become a luxury differentiator. The latest episode of the Resilient Tourism Podcast Series, hosted by Meng-Mei “Maggie” Chen, has just been released as part of the Swiss Travel & Tourism Data-Driven Transformation project, supported by Innosuisse.
Is “Book on ChatGPT” Hitting the Same Wall as “Book on Google”?
Expert Views (17) Bookings can happen inside tools like ChatGPT—but not on their own. To actually complete a booking, these platforms still need to rely on existing systems (like OTAs, hotel booking engines, and payment providers) that handle the hard parts: payments, availability, cancellations, and customer support. That’s where the challenge is. In travel, making a booking isn’t just one click—it’s a chain of connected steps across different systems.
London and Regional (L+R)
Hotel Excelsior Venice Lido - Venice's only luxury beachfront hotel and one of the most storied addresses in European hospitality is set to unveil its most significant transformation in recent history.
Are AI Agents About to Replace Traditional Hotel Software?
Expert Views (18) In a word, no. Websites were designed to entice humans to view, discover, consider, buy. They are heavy with images, HTML, JavaScript, etc. to entice us in and encourage us to dwell. APIs were invented for M2M, machine to machine, transactions. They are lean, measurable, secure. “Agentic AI” is still in its infancy. LLMs are still based on next-best-word, statistical, transformer-based Machine Learning engines. They have no internal real-world model.
#chatgptads | Simone Puorto
First thoughts on #ChatGPTads: TLDR: If you want my two cents, it feels like early 2000s display all over again, just with worse tracking and (a much higher) cost of entry. Now: we are looking at roughly $60 CPM, around $200K just to get in, and a reporting layer that barely goes beyond impressions and clicks (there's no real attribution, no real visibility on what is actually driving value).
Booked in Seconds, Inside ChatGPT: A Conversation with Apaleo at ITB Berlin
Apaleo's founder demonstrates live hotel booking through ChatGPT, with 15-20 hotel groups already deploying AI agents in production. At ITB Berlin, Simone Puorto spoke with Uli Pillau, Founder of Apaleo, about open platforms, what agentic AI actually means in practice, and why the hotels moving fastest on this are not the large chains. The conversation ended with a live demonstration of a hotel room being booked entirely inside ChatGPT. It took a few moments.
EOS Hospitality | Hospitality Net
EOS Hospitality is a full-service hotel management company with a portfolio of best-in-class hotels and resorts; vacation rentals; and specialty lodging. Founded in 2017, EOS is a versatile manager with expertise in branded, independent, and outdoor hospitality properties.
Simone Puorto discussed Humans-as-Luxury, AI, Imperfection, and the Future of Hospitality
During the 4th edition of Summit Hospitality in Lamezia Terme, technophilosopher Simone Puorto was interviewed by vodcaster Samuele Di Iorgi on the evolving relationship between humans and machines within hospitality, a sector historically structured around anthropocentric assumptions. The discussion reframes the dominant narrative surrounding artificial intelligence adoption.
If you build it (the UCP), they (the guests) will come. Kinda.
This article is published as part of a viewpoint in the World Panel: Will Google’s new Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP) turn hotel distribution upside down? Revenue Optimization — Viewpoint by Max Starkov Google UCP may be the door to a "post booking engine" industry, for both human and non-human bookers. More than a rupture, however, it formalizes a shift that is already underway.
Are chatbots the new social media?
7B visits in a single month, a growth line that echoes the primordial years of Facebook, and a demographic curve that bends upward as the 45+ crowd becomes nearly 1/3 of the entire ecosystem. ChatGPT alone moves close to 6B monthly visits and now stands shoulder to shoulder with Instagram in the planetary rankings, as if conversation itself had quietly reclaimed the centre of the digital stage.
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