The AI Hospitality Alliance (AIHA) has announced the launch of “Mastering AI for Hospitality: From Beginner to Builder,” a free eight-part online workshop series aimed at hospitality professionals.
The programme, developed in partnership with the San Diego State University L. Robert Payne School of Hospitality & Tourism Management, will begin on Thursday 3 September 2026. It aims to close the gap between the growing media coverage of artificial intelligence and hotel teams’ actual mastery of it.
An academic partnership in the service of the industry
The series will be led by Ira Vouk (see her website), founder of the AI Hospitality Alliance, a professor at San Diego State University and author of several reference works on hospitality technology, including Hotel Tech 101 and Hospitality 2.0. The programme adapts, for working professionals, the curriculum she teaches to SDSU students, which until now has been reserved for the academic setting.
“AI is evolving so quickly that a gap is opening up between hearing about it and actually knowing how to use it,” said Ira Vouk. “The goal of this series is to close that gap for hospitality. We start with the fundamentals, but we don’t stop there: by the end of the programme, participants will be able to work with agents, create digital products, and even develop software with AI.”
Eight modules, from beginner to solution builder
The programme is structured across four progressive levels — Beginner, User, Power User and Builder — covering everything from foundational uses to the most advanced applications. The first workshop, “50 Shades of Intelligence: What AI Is — and What It Means for Hospitality,” will lay the groundwork on generative AI, predictive AI and agentic AI as applied to hospitality.
The following modules will address, in turn, the use of large language models for writing and analysis, image and presentation creation, audio and video generation, and then the move to autonomous agents capable of carrying out complex tasks. The final two workshops will introduce the creation of websites, dashboards and software tools with no prior programming experience required, through an introduction to AI-assisted development.
Each session lasts around an hour and favours hands-on practice over theory. Participants will be able to work with tools already widely adopted across the sector, such as ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude and Perplexity.
Meeting a growing need for AI skills in the industry
This initiative comes against a backdrop in which the adoption of artificial intelligence is progressing rapidly within hotel establishments, without team training always keeping pace. A Food Hotel Tech study published in 2025 already showed that three-quarters of French hoteliers were using AI tools, mainly for content generation and review management, while also pointing to a need for teams to upskill.
Beyond internal applications, several hotel groups are also investing in structuring their data in order to engage with conversational AI platforms, as illustrated by the approach taken by the EVT Hotels & Resorts group in Australia and New Zealand. This dual dynamic — operational and strategic — reinforces the appeal of structured training programmes that are accessible to as many people as possible.
Free access, open to the whole industry
All eight workshops will be offered free of charge as part of the AIHA Academy, live online, with recordings available afterwards on the AI Hospitality Alliance website. Professionals will be able to attend a single session according to their needs, or follow the full programme.
The first workshop, “50 Shades of Intelligence: What AI Is — and What It Means for Hospitality,” will take place on 3 September 2026 at 8:00am Pacific Time (5:00pm in France).
Registration is open at AIHospitalityAlliance.com.
At a glance by The Hospitality Tribune
AI Hospitality Alliance (AIHA) launches “Mastering AI for Hospitality: From Beginner to Builder”, a free 8-part online workshop series
Developed with San Diego State University L. Robert Payne School of Hospitality & Tourism Management
Taught by Ira Vouk, AIHA Founder and hospitality technology and AI strategist
First session: September 3, 2026, 8:00-9:00 AM PDT
Curriculum spans four levels: Beginner, AI User, Power User, Builder
All sessions free, live online, with recordings available via the AIHA Academy
