Over the past month, a series of CoStar News Hotels podcasts have offered a panoramic view of where the lodging sector is heading. From the subtle art of blending artificial intelligence with personal outreach to the ripple effects of a decade-old merger, the conversations illuminate both challenges and opportunities that hotels must navigate.
Listeners are treated to a blend of forward-looking advice and reflective analysis, making the collection a valuable compass for anyone involved in hospitality operations, revenue management, or brand development.
AI assistance must stay partnered with human contact
Doug Kennedy, president of the Kennedy Training Network, warns against the temptation to let AI run the entire group RFP process. While algorithms can generate rapid initial replies, Kennedy emphasizes that the real sales lift comes after that first automated touch. “The key is what happens after that initial AI response,” he explains, urging sales teams to follow up instantly with a phone call or a text message. This hybrid approach, he says, preserves the efficiency of automation without sacrificing the relational nuance that closing large group accounts demands.
From siloed departments to a unified commercial strategy
Allison Handy, chief commercial officer at Aimbridge Hospitality, expands the conversation beyond sales. She notes that the traditional walls separating sales, marketing, and revenue management are eroding, giving rise to an integrated commercial strategy. Handy argues that the next evolution is a seamless customer journey strategy in which the lines between marketing touchpoints and revenue-management tactics blur. “There is no breakdown of what part of that customer journey is marketing and what part is revenue management,” she states, underscoring the need for leaders to think holistically.
Supporting Handy’s view, Jess Petitt, senior vice president of strategy, insights and full-service brands at Hilton, shares findings from the company’s 2027 annual trends report. The data reveal travelers are moving away from the pursuit of an Instagram-perfect vacation toward experiences that resonate with their everyday lives. “Travelers are shifting away from the idea of having the perfect vacation, this Instagrammable moment of their lives, and looking instead for the experiences that reflect the reality of their life,” Petitt says, highlighting a cultural shift that directly informs the emerging commercial blueprint.
Brand proliferation, global expansion and a tempered outlook
Marking a ten-year anniversary of a landmark deal, Marriott President and CEO Tony Capuano reflects on the avalanche of new hotel brands that followed the acquisition of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide. He observes that dozens of brands—whether organically created or absorbed through M&A—trace their lineage back to that transaction, illustrating the lasting power of a broad brand portfolio.
In the Asia-Pacific arena, Jesper Palmqvist, regional vice-president for STR, points to Vietnam as a burgeoning hub where nearly every new project carries a recognizable brand flag. He describes the market as undergoing a phase of “brandification,” noting that development stability and a consistent brand-centric approach have become the norm, with no signs of waning momentum.
Turning to Europe, the Middle East and Africa, Langham Hospitality Group’s regional development chief Josh Littman explains the chain’s expansion strategy as a marriage of cultural identities. Quoting CEO Bob van den Oord, Littman says the brand embodies a “British heart and Asian soul,” leveraging the best of both traditions as it stakes out new territory across the EMEA region.
Yet not all signals point upward. Jan Freitag, CoStar’s national director of hospitality analytics, reminds listeners of a modest deceleration forecast for the year ahead. The revised projection expects RevPAR to close 2026 with a 4.4% increase, a figure that, while respectable, reflects a slower growth trajectory than earlier expectations. “We’re going to drip, drip, drip, step down to 4.4% at the end of the year, in line with our current forecast,” Freitag remarks, signaling that the industry should brace for a softer finish.
Technology battles: traditional hotels versus platform giants
Hospitality consultant Bruce Jordan highlights a critical differentiator in the ongoing competition with platforms like Airbnb and Expedia. While legacy hotels continue to excel in service, Jordan asserts that these newer players dominate on the technology front. “Airbnb — they don’t beat us on service. They beat us on technology,” he says, noting that many hotel chains still rely on decades-old systems, whereas digital natives deploy agile, data-driven tools that give them a marketing edge.
Collectively, the podcast series paints a picture of an industry at a crossroads: embracing automation without losing the personal touch, dissolving departmental silos in favor of a fluid customer journey, expanding brand footprints globally, and confronting a modest slowdown in revenue growth—all while contending with tech-savvy competitors reshaping the marketplace.
