It turns out that a mouse - at least a computer mouse - is not really quiet. Every time a human being moves it to get to someplace else on a screen, that human is telling us something about what they're thinking - and may ultimately be doing. For marketers, that could be crucial, according to a company called ContentSquare, a user experience analytics platform for websites and apps that deploys artificial intelligence to come up with its insights. It has almost 200 clients across multiple industries but with quite a few in travel, including Air France and Best Western.

In today's ever-changing landscape of hotels, we must recall the origin of "boutique" properties, and acknowledge the changes that have made for the new paradigm of what the term represents today.

Travelers will mostly opt to experience their destinations as "the locals" do. In fact, myriad destination specific experiences are the main reason for leisure travel. It seems obvious, but hotels often miss that important detail. While hotels often craft polished, streamlined, inclusive and on-premise engagements for guests, it is off the beaten path where the magic is happening.

When a traveler visits a new destination for the first time, they often don't know where to look to find out what's going on, what's coming up and where the go-to hot spots are. In other words, there's no Yelp for events.

Michaela Guzy is a one-woman reflection of what has happened in the media in the last few years. After reaching high-level positions at publishing houses like Conde Nast and American Express Publishing, she dropped it all to start a website called OhThePeopleYouMeet (OTPYM) - dedicated to travel adventures focused on, well, the people you meet when traveling.

As hotels and airlines look to renegotiate their contracts with online travel agencies (OTA), they may want to take a closer look at how well each OTA performs in driving consumer conversations offline and online. Since social influence has a proven impact on sales, a quick chat at the water cooler or a Facebook Messenger discussion about an upcoming vacation or weekend getaway is a leading indicator of who will secure the booking. Right now, TripAdvisor, Expedia.com and the other OTAs are outperforming hotels and airlines in this all-important battle for share of conversation.

As virtual reality and artificial intelligence make their way into the travel industry, consumers may not be fully on board.

Travel and adventure-seeking have a new, greater importance in the Millennial lifestyle. They are taking more vacations than ever, with 70% reporting the desire to visit every continent. They place a premium on authentic travel experience: cultural appreciation, living like a local, and off-the-beaten-track experiences are more sought after than partying and other "traditional" tourist activities. I think this is awesome. It's a wonderful trend that inspires tourists to go further, learn more and become more aware of their world.

The move to messaging as a primary form of communication between companies and consumers is, if anything, accelerating - and it's time for marketers to be sure they are at least up to date on what this channel might mean for them and their specific products.

One of the oldest industries in the world is poised to pave the way forward for one of our newest technologies, the Internet of Things (IoT). Luxury hotels could be the frontier that finally moves the vision of IoT fully connected living from CES displays to real life. Frankly, given all the efficiency and cost saving advantages the IoT could bring the hospitality industry, it's almost surprising it hasn't happened yet. (McKinsey finds that IoT hype actually understates the full potential.) So it seems appropriate now to take a moment to imagine how we should communicate this revolution to the ...