Converging Forces – The Future is Hybrid by Design is exploring how hoteliers are responding to the accelerating technology challenges and opportunities.

BACKGROUND

The classic philosophy in hospitality goes like this: guests require services provided by super nice, smiling, well-trained humans.

After all, this is the reason why our industry is called “hospitality”, because our guests supposedly expect their hosts - the hotel staff themselves - to provide “human” services at all touchpoints of the guest experience.

I believe the notion that guests are demanding human-provided services is greatly exaggerated, especially today.

WHAT CAN HOTELS LEARN FROM VACATION RENTALS?

In 2025, close to a quarter of roomnights in North America were consumed at vacation rentals/ short-term rentals: houses, villas, condos and apartments. A quarter!

The whole vacation rental experience is a completely HUMANLESS EXPERIENCE! All of the human involvement remains hidden “behind the curtains” from the actual guests.

WHY IS THE SUBJECT OF HUMAN-PROVIDED SERVICES IN HOSPITALITY SO IMPORTANT?

There are three extremely important issues plaguing the industry today that need immediate resolution: a) never-ending labor shortages, b) unsustainable labor costs and c) inability to provide adequate services to the exceedingly tech-savvy and DIY (do-it-yourself) customers.

In my view, only through accelerated investments in technology - cloud, mobility, AI, robotics, IoT and other technology applications - can the hospitality industry solve the three major industry issues outlined above.

HOW TO FINE-TUNE THE BLEND OF HUMANS AND TECHNOLOGY?

Unless your property’s business model is a fully self-service hotel like the Otonomus Hotel in Las Vegas or Omena Hotel in Helsinki, I believe full-service hotels, especially 3,4,5-star hotels, should still maintain a “human guest-facing facade” but automate all of the “behind the curtains” operations using AI, mobility, cloud, robots and cobots, IoT and other technologies.

Technology will not be replacing anytime soon highly qualified hospitality jobs like hotel managers, revenue managers, digital marketers, AI specialists, IT managers, CRM experts, sales managers, etc., but all of these professions will have to become proficient in the use of AI tools in their areas of expertise.

WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD FOR HOSPITALITY?

In my view, by 2030, thanks to AI, robotization and automation, hoteliers will operate, on average, with human staffs at least 50% lower than the staffing levels of 2019.

This percentage will differ between hotel categories: 75% and more for budget, economy, extended stay and lower mid scale properties and 25%- 35% for 5-star luxury hotels and resorts.

CASE STUDY: THE ROBOTS ARE ALREADY HERE! - continue reading the full article at The HOTEL Yearbook 2026 here.