What Hotel CEOs Are Saying About Amazon and Google’s Growing Influence in Travel
Photo Credit: Earlier this week, Amazon announced the debut of Alexa for Hospitality, which will make it easier for hoteliers to place Amazon's smart speaker devices into hotel rooms for guest use. Amazon/Marriott International
Skift Take
Disruption in the travel industry is a universal constant, and we can certainly expect Amazon and Google to continue that tradition. An even more interesting question to ask ourselves for the moment: Why aren't Google and Apple doing more to get their smart devices into hotel rooms like Amazon is?
Amazon made news this week when it announced the debut of Alexa for Hospitality, a business unit entirely devoted to the placement and usage of Amazon's Echo smart speaker devices in hospitality settings that range from hotels to vacation rentals, and everything in between.
The launch of Alexa for Hospitality was a clear signal from Amazon to the hotel business — and the travel industry at large — of the company's strategies for getting more deeply invested in the travel space. Today, at least for Amazon, it's via smart devices. Tomorrow, it might involve voice search, or perhaps, the debut of Amazon's own online travel agency platform?
Prior to Amazon's announcement on Tuesday, Skift spoke with various hotel executives at the NYU International Hospitality Industry Investment conference in early June to ask them for their thoughts on tech giants such as Amazon and Google, and what they said might surprise you.
While some of these executives welcomed these players, others e
