When inboxes are on fire and revenue is evaporating: how human-driven AI is saving the hotel industry

Evy is Director of Process Mining & Onboarding at MICE DESK

"500, sometimes 1,000 unread emails in a single hotel inbox. And that's every day." What sounds like the crisis protocol of an overwhelmed team is everyday life in many convention sales departments. Inquiries that peter out. Leads that never convert. Potential customers who have long since booked with the competition. Welcome to 2025.

But there is a solution. And it's called Rocket 2.0 in conjunction with the unbeatable team at MICE DESK .

"Our technology thinks, but people decide. That's exactly what makes us so strong."
– Evy, Director Process Mining & Onboarding, MICE DESK

(Note: This quote is from the videocast "MICE DESK Inside" – a conversation between Marwin Kunz and Evy about change in the hotel industry, real challenges in the front office, and how to implement data-driven processes with passion. Click here to watch the video .)

When AI does not replace but empowers

Digitalization in convention sales is failing not due to a lack of technology, but due to blind faith in it. Many vendors provide tools, but no insight. They provide dashboards, but no answers.

MICE DESK takes a different approach: human-driven AI.
Our systems like Rocket 2.0 analyze data, prioritize leads, and accelerate processes, but humans remain the conductor . AI provides the score. Hoteliers play the concert.

That’s what we call: Human in the Loop.
Because technology without humans is like a navigation system without a driver. It shows you the route, but the decision about when to brake, overtake, or take a break isn't made by the algorithm, but by the person at the wheel.

Case Study: +54% Conversion Rate through Human-Centered Process Intelligence

A current pilot with a new hotel partner from North Rhine-Westphalia shows:
MICE DESK increased the conversion rate in event sales from 21% to 32.4% – in just six weeks.
(Internal evaluation, MICE DESK Reporting Dashboard, Q1/2025)

The key?

• Establishment of uniform standards in the inquiry process

• Introducing Rocket 2.0 for prioritization and automation

• On-site onboarding and empathetic support from our team

"Many hoteliers think new software will save the day. But what they really need is a buddy with intelligence and experience."
– Marwin Kunz, Strategic Alliance Manager, Wandelbots

We don’t just call it a tool, we call it responsibility

Rocket 2.0 is not just another system you bring into your home.
It's an extension of a functioning team . It measures, evaluates, and recommends. But it doesn't replace a specialist. It relieves their workload.

An example:

• Request qualification, which used to take 15 minutes per request, now takes less than 90 seconds with Rocket.

• Feedback to customers is on average 3.4 hours faster than before the use of MICE DESK

  (Source: Reporting analysis, 38 houses, DACH region, April 2025).

But here too, the following applies:
Technology makes suggestions. Humans decide.

What to do when things get tough? When systems fail, MICE DESK steps in

Imagine an overworked convention sales manager. Her screen is lit. She has 247 unread emails. The phone is ringing. Three proposals are overdue. The team is on vacation. And she knows: If she doesn't deliver now, she'll lose €25,000 in revenue.

This is where MICE DESK comes in – with a well-coordinated team that not only relieves the burden but also takes responsibility. Intelligent processes interact in the background: system-supported, forward-looking, and precise.

• Offer proposals are prepared automatically

• Room availability checked in a structured manner

• Personalized response templates launched

And your employee? Can again do what only humans can:
Nurturing relationships, solving problems creatively, being a hostess.

Numbers that convince and change decisions

An internal analysis of 7,000 offers clearly shows: The speed of submitting offers is a key factor in determining success or failure in convention sales.

If an inquiry is answered within 4–5 hours , the conversion rate is 55.88% . However, if the response is delayed for more than 24 hours , the probability of completion drops dramatically.

The connection is clear: Fast response increases revenue – not just theoretically, but measurably and verifiably. This is precisely where MICE DESK comes in.

The problem?

• No staff.

• No prioritization.

• No system.

The solution?
MICE DESK – as an external answering machine with brain and heart.

Because speed is only successful when it meets quality. We provide both.

Standardization instead of gut feeling: What our workshops really change

We take each hotel by the hand during onboarding.
Whether chain or family business, whether 3 or 30 conference rooms:

• We analyze processes.

• We uncover system breaks.

• Together with the team, we develop new standards, checklists, and communication guidelines.

“Many hoteliers experience their aha moment in the workshop when they realize: the bottleneck is not a person but a missing process.”
– Evy, MICE DESK

These standards not only help internally, they also train our AI so that it can act faster, more precisely and on a hotel-specific basis in the next step.

And what about the skepticism towards AI?

This is justified if AI is misunderstood.
But for us, artificial intelligence is not the goal , but the tool .
We don't want to create a black box, but rather transparency. Trust. Results.

That's why we let people make decisions.
That's why we rely on reporting dashboards that are understandable and visually comprehensible.
That's why we are not building a technological castle, but an ecosystem model with people at its center.

Conclusion: It's not about technology. It's about revenue, relief, and attitude.

MICE DESK won't save the world. But we will save your conversion rate. Your nerves. And a little bit of your pride, too.
Because what is more frustrating than an empty conference room that could have been booked?

We believe:

• Digitalization doesn’t require rocket science, but real partners .

• Convention Sales doesn't need isolated software, but an end-to-end system with heart and mind.

• And the hotel industry deserves tools that work while people lead.

Do you want to know how much money you have lying on the street right now?

Let’s find out together, free of charge and without obligation.

👉 Request a process workshop now and identify potential: Contact us