Anne James

Ways to work together

Insight & strategy

AI governance

Research

Guest and community insight study

Before you commit to an AI roadmap, or decide against one, find out what your guests, staff and host community actually want from you. Sometimes the right answer is to keep a moment human.

Request a tailored proposal
Format
Interviews, guest and advisor sessions, short surveys and on-site observation
Duration
6 to 10 weeks
Participants
Guests, travel advisors, front-line staff and leadership, with local partners where relevant
What you get
  • A findings report on where guests welcome technology in their stay, and where they expect a person
  • A map of the guest journey marking the moments to automate, support or protect
  • A clear recommendation on AI, including where not to use it
  • Two or three trust measures you can track each year

The program includes

  1. Hear every voice in the room: leadership’s ambitions, staff instincts, owners’ doubts about the return, and what guests expect.
  2. Design the study: who to talk to, where to meet them, and how their personal data is protected.
  3. Listen along the guest journey, through interviews, observation and conversations with the advisors who sell your property.
  4. Analyse and benchmark what you heard against industry research on traveler trust in AI and data.
  5. Turn findings into decisions: what to automate, what to support with technology, and what stays human.

Strategy and positioning

Proof of Place: a regenerative brand standard

Set a higher standard for your relationship with the place and people you depend on, and talk about it in a way you can prove. Since September 2026, EU rules ban generic green claims such as “eco-friendly” unless you can back them up.

Request a tailored proposal
Format
Research and positioning engagement, on-site and remote
Duration
10 to 14 weeks
Participants
Leadership, marketing and guest experience leads, with residents, local suppliers, staff and cultural partners
What you get
  • Findings from your host community, suppliers and guests
  • A public standard: plain-language commitments on place, culture, people and guest data
  • A review of the claims on your website, booking flow and sales materials
  • Brand story and content guidelines built on what you can show
  • Two or three measures to re-check each year

The program includes

  1. Listen to the place: residents, local suppliers, staff and cultural partners on what you take from it and what you give back.
  2. Review your service supply chain: who you buy from, who you partner with, and where value leaves the community.
  3. Draft your standard with your leadership team, including where service stays human and what guest data you won’t collect.
  4. Check your claims against EU green-claims rules, working alongside your certifier on environmental data.
  5. Rebuild the story around what you can prove, with a plan to report back to guests and your community each year.

Workshop

AI workshop and guardrails

Give your teams the skills to use AI with good judgment, and a short set of rules for what AI may say and do with guests. Staff AI literacy is already a requirement under the EU AI Act.

Request a tailored proposal
Format
In-person or live online workshop, with optional follow-on drafting
Duration
Half day or full day, plus 2 to 4 weeks to finalize guardrails
Participants
Mixed teams across front office, guest relations, sales and marketing (max. 15 people)
What you get
  • AI literacy training you can show you’ve provided
  • A one-page guide to everyday AI use
  • Rules on what AI tools may confirm to guests, and when a person takes over
  • Wording that tells guests when they’re dealing with AI

The program includes

  1. What AI tools actually do and where they fail, with examples from hotels and travel.
  2. Hands-on exercises with the tools your team already uses.
  3. Spotting risks: guest privacy, wrong answers, bias, and promises the property can’t keep.
  4. Vendor questions to ask before you switch on a new AI feature.
  5. Draft your guardrails together, then finalize them as a take-home guide.

Policy and standards

AI governance policy and compliance

Most hotels and travel brands don’t build AI. They buy it inside their booking, CRM, review and guest-messaging tools. That makes you a deployer under the EU AI Act, with obligations of your own.

Request a tailored proposal
Format
Embedded engagement, on-site and remote
Duration
8 to 12 weeks
Participants
Digital, guest experience, HR, legal and data protection leads
What you get
  • An inventory of the AI already in your tools and suppliers
  • A governance policy with named decision owners
  • EU AI Act and GDPR obligations mapped to each use, including what you tell guests
  • Vendor questions and contract terms for selection and renewal
  • A review process for new tools and pilots

The program includes

  1. Map the AI in your stack: booking, CRM, revenue, guest messaging, reviews, wellness programs and HR tools.
  2. Classify each use. AI used in hiring, task allocation or performance monitoring counts as high-risk under the AI Act.
  3. Assess personalization and guest data, including health data from wellness and longevity offers, with privacy impact assessments where needed.
  4. Draft the policy, disclosures and vendor terms with your leadership team, including who signs off and when.
  5. Set up a lightweight review for new tools and vendors, with a plan to revisit it as regulation changes.

Whether or not AI is part of your plan

Guests can tell when values are performative. Most travel brands also have more AI in their stack than anyone has fully mapped. Let’s start with what’s true.

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