When you tap your room key card to access the ocean view at the start of your holiday, data and information security is probably the last thing you want to think about. Yet hotels are responsible for holding all types of private information. Your contact details, address, and credit card details are all gleefully handed over when your step up to the check-in counter, if not before. A lot of times, this data is not held on site but at the premises of a technology supplier who is in charge of handling the IT side of your vacation or business trip lodgings.
These suppliers are in charge of housekeeping operations, tracking the movement of staff as they move through the establishment; property management, keeping record of when you check in and out of your favorite hotel chain; booking and distribution, to ensure that rooms don’t get double-booked to help you avoid a “Love In The Villa” type of shared accommodation scenario; and even smart tech to customizes your experience with the right temperature, tv shows, and greetings that provide an exquisite experience to make your relaxed holiday sigh stretch out that little bit longer.
The tech admin that you avoid thinking about needs to be top of mind for those in the hospitality industry. When their tech department stays aligned with POPI (Protection of Personal Information Act) requirements and ensures that each of their suppliers do the same, you can truly enjoy your stay and have peace of mind during the months that follow.
Data leakages that result in the “your data may have been accessed by unauthorized parties” type of emails that Booking.com had to send its clients in April of 2026 (https://www.malwarebytes.com/blog/data-breaches/2026/04/booking-com-breach-gives-scammers-what-they-need-to-target-guests) can be minimized when hotels and lodges work with their suppliers to implement recommended security measures.
Following the booking.com data exposure, hackers have not rested. Instead, they turned toward Hospitality Technology International’s hotel management software in July 2026 (https://www.tourismupdate.com/article/hackers-exploit-booking-data-in-phishing-scam) and checked out two million records. In these and similar cases around the globe, the acquired data is being used to confuse both customers and travel agents through phishing and impersonation attacks. Travel agents are tricked into providing sensitive customer booking information, while customers are convinced to provide upfront payments for post-paid services.
Both these cases show the potential vulnerability of hotels due to outsourced data security solutions. They should remember that suppliers need to be actively managed and audited to ensure that measures exist for safeguarding customer data. If you are in the hospitality industry, a useful non-holiday read for you could well be “Managing IT Suppliers : A Practical Guide To Vendor Management” (https://exclusivebooks.co.za/products/9781041104155).
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