Episode 21: IDeaS swinging BIG with Director of Global Alliances, Olga Rodriguez

Step into the captivating world of ITB with Rob Napoli as your guide, joined by Olga Rodriguez, the esteemed Director of Global Alliances at IDeaS. Olga's fervor for the event radiates as she highlights the transformative potential of automation, AI, and data in shaping hospitality's future.Her insights, enriched by IDeaS' contributions to revenue management and partnerships like CloudBeds, paint a vivid picture of industry evolution. 

But amidst the professional discourse, Rob and Olga share intimate travel tales, reinforcing the value of human connection in a digital age.Join us for an enlightening dialogue on the horizon of hospitality and the collaborative spirit propelling innovation.

Podcast Timestamps:
00:00:00 - The Importance of Automation and AI
00:00:39 - Introduction to Hospitable Podcast at ITB
00:01:02 - Olga's Experience at ITB
00:01:52 - What is Ideas and the Role of Global Alliances
00:03:22 - The Role of Automation in Hospitality
00:04:47 - Behind the Scenes of Data-Driven Decisions
00:06:09 - The People, Processes, and Systems Triangle
00:07:54 - The Evolution of Hospitality Experiences
00:08:09 - Olga's Journey into Hospitality
00:09:12 - The Unique Aspects of the Hospitality Industry
00:10:58 - Ideas' Impact and Goals for the Year
00:11:17 - The Importance of Ecosystem and Partnerships
00:13:35 - Excitement for Industry Changes in 2024
00:14:09 - The Significance of Open APIs and Standards
00:15:05 - Simplifying Processes with Standards
00:16:24 - Ideas' Big Announcements and Growth
00:17:14 - The Impact of MICE on the Hospitality Industry
00:18:28 - Personal Goals and Impact in the Industry
00:19:07 - The Importance of Trade Shows in Hospitality
00:20:17 - Preparing for ITB and the Value of Face-to-Face Interactions
00:22:23 - A Memorable Travel Story
00:25:16 - Connecting with Olga
00:25:53 - Closing Remarks and Podcast Outro

Quotes:
00:00:21 - "But the purpose of it is you give more time to people to focus on their strategy, to focus on how do we work with the teams, integrate the different disciplines to really drive performance for the hotels."
00:03:43-00:03:54 - "The goal behind automation is not to replace something. It's to speed up something so you can creatively think and work on bigger solutions and solve bigger problems."
00:06:19 - "one of our missions is to give humans time back"
00:10:03 - "hospitality only works with the customer experience."
00:13:46-00:13:56 - "I love the term cooperation where competitors cooperate, because when you collectively are working to solve problems in the space and you talk openly, that's where things really get interesting."
00:15:55-00:16:05 - "How do we democratise revenue management? How do we bring this discipline that really makes a difference, but how do we bring it to the independent hoteliers."
00:19:28 - "I think growth is It's amazing that there's opportunity for large-scale growth and there's opportunity"
00:21:45 - "And nothing beats that, the energy of being in a room with somebody across the table or over a microphone."
00:25:04 - "No questions asked, just you need this. We will do it for you. Do not worry."