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, hospitality market leaders are looking toward 2026 with cautious optimism. Increasing operational expenses are slated to challenge owners this year and lower-tier sections could struggle in the middle of a growing wealth bifurcation.

And through everything, hotel companies are expected to fortify their portfolios with brand-new brand offerings and collaborations. As the year gets underway, Hotel Dive spoke to hospitality leaders from varying corners of the market about their 2026 forecasts. Below are the top patterns expected to impact hotel operations, efficiency, net system development and more this year.

Total salaries, incomes and benefits paid by U.S. hotels rose 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 an approximately 3% year-over-year increase, per AHLA. For hotel owners, increasing labor costs pose a difficulty to net operating earnings development, Kevin Davis, Americas CEO at JLL Hotels & Hospitality, informed Hotel Dive.

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Rising labor costs have actually been a difficulty for hoteliers for years, Davis stated, especially following the COVID-19 pandemic. Overall, hotel labor expenses have increased 15.3% from 2019 to 2025, outmatching the 12.8% development in overall operating earnings, according to AHLA.

3, 2024 in San Francisco, California. Justin Sullivan by means of Getty Images In 2026, Davis kept in mind, union settlements will be "front and center" in New York City, where the New York City Hotel and Gaming Trades Council's union contract with the Hotel Association of New York City is set to end in July.

"Need has not kept up with this pace," she said. Salaries, salaries and payroll-related costs paid by hotels now account for more than 32% of overall profits, according to AHLA.

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As more hotel guests turn to artificial intelligence to enhance their travel experience, scheduling hotels straight through big language designs (LLMs) may be next, hospitality experts said. Agentic commerce a procedure by which self-governing AI agents act upon behalf of a customer to discover, compare and complete purchases is a trend 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 likely to use AI for travel suggestions. That number is growing, Jonathan Kletzel, PwC's travel, transport and logistics leader, told Hotel Dive. Michael Klein Head of retail, travel and hospitality item marketing at Talkdesk To remain competitive with direct reservation, larger multibrand hotel business will "embed LLMs into their own brand websites and mobile apps, and change the method the customer searches," Kletzel stated.

"If you are not visible in an LLM search results page which lots of brands aren't, and this is the huge panic that they're all going through today customers aren't going to consider you," he stated. Michael Klein, head of retail, travel and hospitality product marketing at AI client experience platform Talkdesk, similarly informed Hotel Dive that hospitality players need to ensure their residential or commercial property info is being indexed by LLMs to appear in tourist queries.