Key Global Milestones in Brand Development

, hospitality industry leaders are looking toward 2026 with mindful optimism. Increasing operational costs are slated to challenge owners this year and lower-tier sectors could struggle amid a growing wealth bifurcation.

And through it all, hotel business are expected to fortify their portfolios with brand-new brand offerings and partnerships. As the year gets underway, Hotel Dive spoke with hospitality leaders from varying corners of the industry about their 2026 predictions. Below are the leading patterns expected to effect hotel operations, efficiency, net unit development and more this year.

Total salaries, salaries and benefits paid by U.S. hotels increased to $127 billion in 2025, according to information from the American Hotel & Accommodations Association, shown Hotel Dive. In 2026, that figure is projected to reach $131 billion, representing a roughly 3% year-over-year boost, per AHLA. For hotel owners, rising labor expenses pose an obstacle to net operating income development, Kevin Davis, Americas CEO at JLL Hotels & Hospitality, told Hotel Dive.

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"It is an absolute issue." Rising labor costs have actually been a challenge for hoteliers for years, Davis said, especially following the COVID-19 pandemic. Overall, hotel labor expenses have actually increased 15.3% from 2019 to 2025, outpacing the 12.8% development in overall operating revenue, according to AHLA. In recent years, thousands of union hotel employees have actually gone on strike demanding higher incomes in order to stay up to date with the rising cost of living in places such as California, Hawaii and Las Vegas.

3, 2024 in San Francisco, California. Justin Sullivan via Getty Images In 2026, Davis noted, union negotiations will be "front and center" in New york city City, where the New York Hotel and Video gaming Trades Council's union contract with the Hotel Association of New York City City is set to expire in July.

"Demand has not stayed up to date with this pace," she said. "We're likewise seeing these obstacles compounded by legislation that targets hotel operations, such as severe labor and licensing policies like the New York City Safe Hotels Act. When need is falling and costs are skyrocketing, the mathematics merely does not add up." Salaries, earnings and payroll-related expenditures paid by hotels now represent more than 32% of overall income, according to AHLA.

Modern Hospitality Market Trends Fueling Future Success

As more hotel guests turn to artificial intelligence to enhance their travel experience, booking hotels directly through large language designs (LLMs) might be next, hospitality specialists said. Agentic commerce a procedure by which autonomous AI representatives act on behalf of a consumer to discover, compare and finish purchases is a pattern that has actually accelerated throughout industries like retail.

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According to PwC's 2025 Holiday Outlook report, 76% of millennials said they're most likely to utilize AI for travel suggestions. That number is growing, Jonathan Kletzel, PwC's travel, transportation and logistics leader, informed Hotel Dive. Michael Klein Head of retail, travel and hospitality item marketing at Talkdesk To remain competitive with direct booking, bigger multibrand hotel companies will "embed LLMs into their own brand sites and mobile apps, and alter the method the consumer searches," Kletzel stated.

"If you are not visible in an LLM search engine result which many brand names aren't, and this is the huge panic that they're all going through right now consumers aren't going to consider you," he said. Michael Klein, head of retail, travel and hospitality item marketing at AI client experience platform Talkdesk, similarly told Hotel Dive that hospitality gamers require to ensure their property info is being indexed by LLMs to appear in tourist questions.