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, hospitality industry leaders are looking towards 2026 with cautious optimism. Increasing operational expenses are slated to challenge owners this year and lower-tier sectors might have a hard time in the middle of a growing wealth bifurcation.

And through all of it, hotel companies are anticipated to strengthen their portfolios with new brand name offerings and collaborations. As the year gets underway, Hotel Dive consulted with hospitality leaders from differing corners of the market about their 2026 predictions. Below are the top patterns expected to impact hotel operations, performance, net unit growth and more this year.

Overall salaries, incomes and advantages paid by U.S. hotels increased to $127 billion in 2025, according to data from the American Hotel & Accommodations Association, shared with Hotel Dive. In 2026, that figure is predicted to reach $131 billion, representing a roughly 3% year-over-year increase, per AHLA. For hotel owners, rising labor expenses present a difficulty to net operating earnings growth, Kevin Davis, Americas CEO at JLL Hotels & Hospitality, told Hotel Dive.

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Increasing labor costs have been a challenge for hoteliers for years, Davis said, particularly following the COVID-19 pandemic. Overall, hotel labor costs have increased 15.3% from 2019 to 2025, outmatching the 12.8% growth in total operating earnings, according to AHLA.

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

"Demand has not stayed up to date with this rate," she stated. "We're likewise seeing these obstacles intensified by legislation that targets hotel operations, such as severe labor and licensing policies like the New York City City Safe Hotels Act. When need is falling and costs are soaring, the math merely does not build up." Wages, wages and payroll-related costs paid by hotels now represent more than 32% of overall income, according to AHLA.

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As more hotel visitors turn to expert system to improve their travel experience, reserving hotels straight through large language models (LLMs) might be next, hospitality professionals said. Agentic commerce a procedure by which self-governing AI representatives act upon behalf of a consumer to discover, compare and complete purchases is a pattern that has actually accelerated across markets 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, transport and logistics leader, informed Hotel Dive. Michael Klein Head of retail, travel and hospitality product marketing at Talkdesk To stay competitive with direct booking, larger multibrand hotel business will "embed LLMs into their own brand websites and mobile apps, and alter the method the consumer searches," Kletzel said.

"If you are not visible in an LLM search engine result which many brand names aren't, and this is the big panic that they're all going through right now 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, likewise informed Hotel Dive that hospitality players need to guarantee their residential or commercial property information is being indexed by LLMs to appear in tourist questions.