The Future of 2026 Corporate Expansion Milestones

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

And through everything, hotel business are expected to strengthen their portfolios with brand-new brand name offerings and partnerships. As the year gets underway, Hotel Dive talked with hospitality leaders from differing corners of the industry about their 2026 predictions. Below are the top trends expected to effect hotel operations, performance, net system growth and more this year.

Overall salaries, wages and advantages paid by U.S. hotels rose to $127 billion in 2025, according to information from the American Hotel & Lodging Association, shown Hotel Dive. In 2026, that figure is projected to climb to $131 billion, representing an approximately 3% year-over-year boost, per AHLA. For hotel owners, rising labor costs present a challenge to net operating earnings growth, Kevin Davis, Americas CEO at JLL Hotels & Hospitality, told Hotel Dive.

Why Fast Casual Market Share Will Be Surging

Increasing labor expenses have 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, surpassing the 12.8% growth in overall operating income, 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 City, where the New York City Hotel and Video gaming Trades Council's union contract with the Hotel Association of New York City is set to end in July.

"Demand has not kept up with this speed," she stated. Salaries, salaries and payroll-related expenses paid by hotels now account for more than 32% of total revenue, according to AHLA.

Why Fast Casual Market Value Will Be Rising

As more hotel visitors turn to expert system to improve their travel experience, booking hotels directly through big language designs (LLMs) may be next, hospitality professionals said. Agentic commerce a process by which self-governing AI agents act on behalf of a customer to discover, compare and finish purchases is a pattern that has accelerated throughout industries like retail.

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According to PwC's 2025 Vacation Outlook report, 76% of millennials stated they're most likely to use AI for travel suggestions. A smaller sized portion (57%) stated they 'd be most likely to utilize it for booking travel. But that number is growing, Jonathan Kletzel, PwC's travel, transportation and logistics leader, informed Hotel Dive. "The variety of consumers that are searching [by means of LLMs] for services and products in travel has actually swollen in the last 12 months and is accelerating every day," Kletzel stated, adding that undoubtedly, hotels will "take a difficult look at how they can allow commerce and deals through agentic [AI]"" [Brands] can construct on the trust they already have if they do a great task with how they deal with AI in 2026." 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 websites and mobile apps, and alter the way the consumer searches," Kletzel stated.

"If you are not discoverable in an LLM search result 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 customer experience platform Talkdesk, similarly told Hotel Dive that hospitality players require to ensure their property information is being indexed by LLMs to appear in tourist questions.