- Cyber Disruption.
Hotels face the possibility of major disruption of key utilities. More immediate, however, are threats toward the disablement of business systems by hackers.
ACTION PLAN:
- Plan for utility failures. Keep a written contingency plan at the front desk for loss of each major utility. Train and retrain frontline staff to spot threats. Establish "do not" protocols. Make sure everyone knows who to notify when a potential cyber threat is identified.
- Lock down passwords. Discourage password sharing. Change passwords when staff leave. Keep system patches updated.
- Expect an incursion. Have a response plan ready.
- Use your resources. Research and use management and franchise cybersecurity tools.
- New Era Guests and Evolved Expectations.
Your guests may not seem like a threat, but failing to meet their expectations is. First, they’re digital-first. Guests live online. They research, discuss and compare. They expect the companies they use to be equally digitally equipped and competent. Second, they expect an immediate response. There is little tolerance for "We will respond soon." Third, they expect recognition. For frequent stays, loyalty status or special occasions.
ACTION PLAN:
- Extensive, appealing online presence is essential. This begins with the hotel website. Ask yourself: "Why do travelers reserve accommodation at my hotel?"
- How do hotel staff research arriving guests? Are repeat guests and guests with special status highlighted? Are they greeted by name? Is anything special - a note, candies -placed in their room? Do they receive a welcome message after check-in? Does this recognition occur every time that it should? If not, why?
- Ensure immediate responses to questions - regardless of channel.
- New Era Staff.
Hotel staff are diverse. That may not have been obvious and acknowledged in the past, but it certainly must be now. They differ from one another in many ways like gender, language, education, race, nationality, temperament, career interests (or lack thereof) and how they feel about work, leadership and much more.
ACTION PLAN:
- We know that with attention, consideration, gratitude, mentoring and recognition, we can successfully attract, retain, advance and celebrate our staff.
- Ensure each individual staff member is recognized and treated with respect.
- Remember employees are also parents, caregivers and sometimes teachers, nurses, drivers, etc. as well. Positions equally, and sometimes even more, important. Support them.
- Staff, particularly younger staff, are digital natives. Be patient with their impatience with less digitally advanced hotel systems
- New Competition - Cruises and Airbnb.
Hotels persist, but non-traditional accommodation is doing well. The hotel industry is often blind to “non-hotel” competition. Cruise lines are reporting one record year after another. Airbnb captures about 18% of all travel room nights. Previously, this would mostly have been occupied hotel rooms. No more. And Airbnb is not standing still. Now Airbnb offers three products: homes, experiences and services. Very smart diversification.
ACTION PLAN:
- Learn from cruises. They're doing "hotel stuff" remarkably well — online promotion, appealing presentation, memorable experiences. Subscribe to several cruise line email feeds.
- Learn from Airbnb. They're direct, sophisticated competitors. Read their STR reviews. Watch for their weaknesses. Then be better.
- Ask why guests choose you. Your answer tells you what to do: deliver those attributes flawlessly, then highlight them on your website and every sales channel.
- Old Technology and Under Training.
Stop relying on old tech. The hotel industry is technology cautious. We keep systems too long. Old systems can't connect to peers, retrieve detailed data or work well with OTAs. They seem cheap, but what they can't do is a hidden cost. Many can't support today's guests or staff.
Whether a system is legacy or latest generation, it requires training. Hotel systems aren’t like Google with its supremely intuitive user experience. That is where the problem begins. New system implementation almost always includes some user training. But classroom training is rare, replaced by conference calls and brief training videos — sometimes within a monitored curriculum. Staff hired after implementation rarely get formal training. They receive on-the-job training, supplemented by those same videos and occasional webinars.
ACTION PLAN:
- Assess the current suitability of each system. Is it cloudbased? Is it difficult or time-consuming to use? Consider a replacement.
- Examine how hotel staff are trained on the PMS and other key systems.
- OTAs Are Winning the Direct Booking Battle.
OTAs are winning the direct booking battle. The hotel industry has talked endlessly about increasing direct bookings but has made negligible progress. Meanwhile, OTAs keep expanding their market share. Why? Because for them, appealing online presentation leading to a sale — a reservation — is their primary mission. For hotels, running the property comes first.
Then there's AI. Large language models search and evaluate content differently than humans. The fast-growing adoption of AI to identify lodging options will change the booking process substantially. Hotels have access to deeper, more compelling data about their properties than OTAs. With appropriately structured data, hotels and hotel brands may capture a high proportion of direct-from-AI bookings. But OTAs remain attractive to large language models (LLMs) because of their orderly aggregation and sophisticated processes. And don't overlook Airbnb — it has the potential to become a major AIfriendly booking site for hotels and short-term rentals (STRs).
ACTION PLAN:
- Think about the reasons why travelers choose your hotel for accommodation. Is your property’s story described on the website?
- What are guests’ questions to your staff? Are they answered on the website?
- Include a FAQ. It is becoming increasingly clear the AI LLMs react positively to information presented in a question-and-answer format.
- Lack of Imagination.
Hotel operation has changed. The economy and the evolving interests of guests have moved hotel operators past focusing solely on the guestroom rate and food and beverage revenue. Hotel operators are seeing interest in upgrades, add-ons and activities. We see OTAs offering add-ons to booking: think travel insurance, a bicycle tour, and now we see Airbnb moving boldly into offering experiences and services along with their core housing product. There is a market and hotels can participate in it.
ACTION PLAN:
- Sell your story. Every hotel has one: history, kindness, remarkable guests, celebrations, exceptional staff. Don't bury it on your website. Share it.
- Sell what's nearby. Beaches, stadiums, restaurants and parks. Help guests plan for them on your website. That's how casual visitors become repeat guests.
- Sell revenue generators. Early check-in, late checkout, parking, box lunches, pool access, private offices, ski storage. Challenge staff to identify add-ons. Pay a commission to the top seller each month. Get creative. Have fun. Tell the press.
Summer 2026
view the digital EDITION7 Threats and Opportunities That Every Hotel Operator Needs to Know
by
John Burns
Jun 6, 2026
THREATS and opportunities
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As a strategic consultant to hotel companies, and to vendors that provide them with technology, I am often asked to identify what I see as the leading threats and principal opportunities in the hotel industry today. I will outline what I see as the seven most significant threats to the hotel industry. In the next issue, I will identify the seven most important opportunities.
John Burns is president of Hospitality Technology Consulting.
