Dive Brief:
- The hotel industry has reached an inflection point, where owners and developers are embracing AI more, but are also increasingly in need of greater guidance on how to convert early adoption into long-term returns, according to Wyndham Hotels & Resorts’ second-annual Owners Trend Report.
- Nearly all hotel owners surveyed (98%) said they have begun incorporating AI into their business. Execution remains uneven, though, with only 32% saying AI is embedded across most aspects of their operations, while 73% want to do more but feel overwhelmed and unsure where to start, per the findings. The report was conducted last quarter among 325 hotel owners and developers spanning multiple brands and companies, nonexclusive to Wyndham, in the U.S., Canada and the Caribbean.
- Some 89% of hoteliers believe working with a hotel brand is beneficial when it comes to incorporating AI into their business, with more than a third deeming it essential, according to the report.
Dive Insight:
As hoteliers face barriers to adopting AI, hotel brands can serve as strategic partners to help “vet, integrate and support best-in-class technology solutions,” according to the report.
Data privacy and security concerns, as well as the costs of investing in AI tools, are the top factors limiting hoteliers from AI adoption. Hoteliers also reported difficulty integrating AI with legacy systems and technology.
“Artificial intelligence is rapidly reshaping hospitality — opening new opportunities while adding fresh layers of complexity,” Wyndham Chief Commercial Officer Scott Strickland said in the report. He added that brands, like Wyndham, can provide “proven, scalable platforms that make it easier to apply AI where it matters most, helping turn innovation into real revenue, greater efficiency and stronger returns.”
Of owners and developers who have already adopted AI in some capacity, most (64%) said they are using it to drive operational efficiency, per the report. Other common AI uses are for energy efficiency and revenue optimization, hoteliers said. Meanwhile, a significant portion of hoteliers (61%) want to see AI play a larger role in construction planning, including assisting with permitting and zoning, the report detailed.
Most major hotel companies are currently working on agentic development across their organizations. Marriott International, in particular, is beginning to roll out a tech transformation across its property management systems, loyalty platform and reservation system that “will be dramatically better for all of our constituencies,” CFO Leeny Oberg told Hotel Dive this week.
Beyond AI, hoteliers remain overwhelmingly confident about both the short- and long-term trajectory of the industry, with 90% saying they are optimistic about 2026 and 95% saying the same about the next five years. Top obstacles to growth, however, include rising operating costs, labor shortages and increased market competition.
