Guest Retention with AI: What's Working, What's Hype, and What's Next
Two Sides of the Hotel Tech Divide: Can AI Actually Fix Guest Retention?
Hotels have years of guest data collecting dust in their PMS. Meanwhile, OTAs are using that same data — and AI — to win those guests back first. So what does AI-powered guest retention actually look like when you strip away the buzzwords?
Join two hospitality voices coming at this from different angles:
Ira Vouk, a longtime hotel tech consultant and educator,
Sevket Seyalioglu, a former OTA builder turned hotel champion,
For an honest, 30-minute conversation about where AI is genuinely moving the needle on guest retention and where the industry is still buying into hype
What we'll dig into:
Why most hotel re-engagement efforts still fall flat despite having the data
Where AI adds real value versus where it's just automation dressed up
What OTAs know about your guests that you don't
How prepared hotel teams actually are to use these tools
Where hotels should actually start
This isn't a product demo or a slide deck. It's a podcast-style conversation between two people who see the problem from different sides — followed by live Q&A where you bring your own questions.
Date: Wednesday, April 16, 2026
Time: 9:00 AM PT / 12:00 PM ET
Duration: 30 minutes
Format: Live conversation + audience Q&A
Where: LinkedIn Live + Microsoft Teams
LinkedIn Live
https://www.linkedin.com/event/manage/7445186518903803905/
SPEAKER BIOS
Sevket Seyalioglu
Founder & CEO, Directful Sevket built five online travel platforms processing billions in annual bookings before switching sides to help hotels fight back. That experience — knowing exactly how OTAs capture and re-engage travelers — led him to build Directful, an AI platform that revives up to 40% of redacted hotel PMS records and drives 15% repeat-stay conversion through hyper-personalized outreach. An Istanbul-raised engineer-founder who still codes, Sevket's approach is rooted in measurable impact: clients typically see five-figure direct revenue uplift within 90 days.
Ira Vouk, MBA
Founder, Hospitality 2.0 Consulting | Adjunct Professor, SDSU Ira has spent over two decades at the intersection of hospitality and technology — as a revenue management director, co-founder of iRates (acquired by iQware), and product leader at Duetto and Cloudbeds. Today she consults hoteliers on AI, distribution, and revenue strategy, teaches hospitality technology at SDSU's Payne School, and is the author of "Hotel Tech 101" and "Hospitality 2.0: Digital Revolution in the Hotel Industry." Her latest course on AI search optimization for hotel content reflects where she sees the industry heading next.