The Lobby Boy

19/11/2025

What Hotels Should Prioritise in 2026: Fresh Insights for Modern Hospitality

A research-driven look at the operational priorities shaping next-generation hotels.

The hospitality industry is entering a period of accelerated change. Booking behaviours continue to shift, digital expectations are rising quickly, and labour shortages remain one of the most impactful operational challenges worldwide. According to Skift Research (2024), traveller spontaneity has reached its highest level yet, with booking windows becoming shorter across nearly every region. At the same time, Booking.com’s 2024 Travel Predictions highlight that mobile-first interactions, personalised service, and operational transparency are now part of the baseline expectations for most travellers. Combined with the AHLA 2024 findings showing that more than half of hotels continue to face staffing shortages, it becomes clear that 2026 will reward hotels that operate with intelligence, speed, and unified systems.

1. Real-Time Visibility Will Become the Heart of Operational Performance

Booking patterns are no longer predictable. Expedia Group’s Traveller Insights 2024 show that guests increasingly book within a week of arrival, and many within only a few days. This unpredictability means traditional nightly reports or manually updated spreadsheets are no longer enough for efficient operations or accurate pricing.

Hotels entering 2026 need systems that reflect reality as it happens. Real-time availability, live occupancy updates, instant reservation syncing, and immediate visibility into cancellations or sudden demand shifts will directly determine revenue outcomes. When hotels can see and respond to changes as they occur, they manage their inventory more accurately, avoid overbooking, adjust pricing in time, and reduce costly operational delays.

2. Automation Will Be Essential for Managing Staff Shortages

Labour shortages continue to shape the hospitality landscape. AHLA’s 2024 industry report states that staffing shortages remain a major challenge for hotels, especially in housekeeping and front-office operations. As a result, hotels must find ways to maintain service levels without relying on large teams.

This is where automation becomes essential. McKinsey’s 2024 Hospitality Analysis shows that automating administrative or repetitive tasks can increase operational productivity substantially. Automating confirmations, reminders, housekeeping task assignments, and internal notifications reduces manual workload while also decreasing human error. By 2026, the hotels that thrive will be the ones where operational processes run automatically in the background, enabling smaller teams to operate more efficiently.

3. Mobile-First Operations Will Become the Default Standard

Guests increasingly expect hotels to support mobile-led interactions throughout the travel experience. Booking.com’s 2024 traveller behaviour report found that travellers value digital confirmations, mobile check-in options, and rapid mobile communication during their stay. For guests, mobile functionality isn’t just convenience — it’s trust, transparency, and control.

Mobile capability is just as critical for hotel staff. The ability to update room status, receive live task alerts, or report maintenance issues from anywhere in the building significantly improves workflow speed. Deloitte’s 2024 Travel Outlook highlights that mobility within staff operations reduces delays and bottlenecks, resulting in faster room turnover and smoother guest experiences. As hotels move into 2026, mobile will no longer be optional — it will become the operational backbone.

4. Personalisation Will Depend on Consolidated Guest Data

Guests increasingly expect hotels to recognise them, remember their preferences, and tailor the stay experience accordingly. Booking.com research indicates that travellers appreciate hotels using the information they provided in earlier stays to improve future visits. However, this level of personalisation is only possible when guest data is centralised and easily accessible.

Many hotels still struggle because their guest information is fragmented across OTAs, emails, old systems, or offline notes. Without unified data, personalisation becomes inconsistent or impossible. In 2026, hotels must prioritise centralised guest profiles — complete with stay history, preferences, communication notes, and booking patterns — so teams can deliver experiences that feel intentional and human.

5. Cross-Department Transparency Will Reduce Service Delays

Service delays are among the biggest contributors to negative reviews. According to TripAdvisor Insights (2024), many complaints relate to miscommunication inside the hotel rather than issues with the room or facility. When housekeeping isn’t aligned with the front desk, or maintenance updates aren’t clear, guests feel the impact immediately.

Hotels entering 2026 need systems that unify their teams. Real-time room status, shared task visibility, maintenance updates, and streamlined internal communication reduce friction and create a more coordinated operation. When every department sees the same information, hotels eliminate guesswork and minimise service inconsistencies.

6. Data-Driven Revenue Management Will Be Critical for Profitability

Market volatility is expected to continue into 2026. STR’s 2024 global hotel performance data emphasises the importance of dynamic pricing, demand forecasting, and pace-based decision-making. As occupancy patterns shift from week to week, hotels that rely on static pricing will struggle to capture potential revenue.

Hotels need access to performance analytics that show booking pace, channel performance, pick-up trends, and revenue patterns. These insights help managers make faster, more confident pricing decisions without relying on guesswork. By 2026, data literacy will be one of the most valuable competitive advantages a hotel can have.

7. Sustainability Will Be Most Effective When Driven by Efficiency

Sustainability continues to influence traveller choices. UNWTO’s 2024 “Tourism for Good” report notes that the most impactful sustainability initiatives are those rooted in operational efficiency. Hotels see meaningful improvements when they reduce unnecessary laundry cycles, optimise housekeeping planning, digitalise administrative processes, and manage resources more intentionally.

Rather than focusing on superficial green gestures, hotels entering 2026 should prioritise efficiency-driven sustainability — reducing waste by improving the daily mechanics of how the property functions.

8. Cloud-Based, Connected Technology Will Shape the Next Phase of Hotel Growth

The future of hospitality technology is connected, flexible, and cloud-based. Deloitte’s Digital Hospitality Study (2025) highlights a clear shift toward platforms that integrate seamlessly and scale easily across multiple properties. Hotels no longer want dozens of disconnected systems; they want a single operational foundation that ties everything together.

Cloud-native PMS platforms allow hotels to operate more securely, deploy updates quickly, expand without technical obstacles, and gain a level of reliability that older systems cannot match. By 2026, this transition will not only be a trend — it will be the operational baseline for growing hotels.

Conclusion: How The Lobby Boy Supports These 2026 Priorities

The Lobby Boy is designed around these exact industry shifts. Its real-time PMS, integrated channel manager, built-in booking engine, mobile-first dashboards, housekeeping and maintenance task management, automated operational workflows, centralised guest profiles, performance analytics, and cloud-native architecture give hotels the tools they need to operate with speed, clarity, and unified intelligence. By centralising daily operations into one modern platform, The Lobby Boy reduces workload, increases visibility across teams, and helps hotels make better decisions in the moment — not after the fact. It’s built for the hotels that want to run smarter in 2026 and beyond.