Artificial intelligence, which has already made a significant mark on the hospitality industry, will make the greatest impact on every facet of the industry over the next 150 years.
“AI is going to have a bigger impact, with a little slower implementation, than originally anticipated,” predicted Tanya Pratt, global vice president of strategy and product management for Oracle Hospitality.
AI has already had a remarkable impact on the lodging industry via virtual concierges, dynamic pricing engines, personalized recommendations for local experiences, upsell offers and room preferences, as well as advanced systems monitoring and support, said David Goldstone, president of Enseo.
In fact, 61 percent of hoteliers are already seeing benefits from AI applications and 73 percent believe AI will have a significant or transformative impact in the future, according to a recent survey from Canary Technologies. Additionally, more than three-quarters plan to dedicate significant IT budgets to AI, with luxury and larger properties leading the way, said Catherine Donaldson, Canary Technologies director of marketing.
In the future, every stay will be customized and unique to each individual guest—and that process will occur seamlessly, thanks to AI, according to Donaldson.
“Over the next 10–20 years, AI will deliver real-time, proactive suggestions for personalized itineraries, dining options, spa treatments, and more—further enhancing the guest experience and allowing hotels to anticipate and meet guest needs like never before,” Goldstone echoed.
In the near terms, when a guest researches a vacation, AI will anticipate what they need and book their hotel and other components for them, Pratt believes.
Similarly, George Winker, Vingcard vice president of sales, North America, believes that reservations and customer service will become even more seamless, with technologies allowing guests to explore properties virtually before booking, and intelligent assistants tailoring offers and itineraries to individuals.
AI will also speed up internal and guest-facing research, according to Pratt. “Staff constantly field questions from guests, such as ‘What is the weather going to be like in Toronto?’ and ‘Are there any restaurants you can recommend?’” Pratt said. “Staff can use these AI agents to ask these questions and present it back to the guest.”
AI is already enabling personalization at scale, anticipating preferences, tailoring dining recommendations, or streamlining service requests so guests feel recognized and valued rather than just processed, according to Irina Jakovleva, BirchStreet Systems chief marketing officer.
“Looking ahead, the role of AI will only deepen. AI will ultimately be able to forecast everything from inventory needs to guest behavior, allowing staff to focus on higher-value interactions that reinforce the human side of the hotel stay experience,” Jakovleva predicted.
AI will help hotels anticipate demand, forecast inventory needs, and even identify potential disruptions in supply chains before they happen, according to Jakovleva. “That means smoother day-to-day operations, more sustainable practices, and leaner costs,” she said.
Winker also believes that, over that the next several decades, hotel operations will likely evolve into highly automated ecosystems in which AI predicts and manages staffing, maintenance and logistics in real time.
“In the years ahead, AI will move deeper into the infrastructure of hospitality, enabling more adaptive, self-correcting environments. Systems will become predictive, automatically adjusting to guest preferences, occupancy patterns, and business needs in real time,” Winker said.
Combined with IoT-enabled devices, AI will help transform hotel rooms and common areas into intelligent spaces that anticipate and resolve issues before guests even notice them, Winker forecasted. “Over the next two decades, the true impact of AI will be its ability to fade into the background, making the technology invisible, while leaving guests with an impression of effortless safety and personalized service,” he noted.
The Hotel of the Future Will be Seamless
In addition to AI, many other technologies will form the hotel of the future. Over the next 25 to 50 years, Goldstone expects to see hyper-personalized guest rooms that automatically adjust lighting, temperature, music, TV preferences, and more based on guests’ individual preferences and biometric inputs.
Similarly, Pratt expects to see biometric check-in, in which guests stand in front of a kiosk for scanning and are automatically checked into their guest rooms.
Jakovleva predicts that reservations, customer service, and in-room experiences will be tied much more closely to back-office systems. Examples include blockchain-enabled supplier networks, smart contracts that automate payments, and AI agents that coordinate bookings and services instantly,
“For guests, this will translate into highly personalized experiences that feel effortless. For hotels, it will mean transparency, resilience, and efficiency at a level the industry has not seen before,” Jakovleva said.
Hotel operations will “get quieter and more predictable,” said Max Spangler, vice president of technology at Charlestowne Hotels. For instance, a living software model of the building will spot a chiller drifting out of spec and open a work order before guests feel it. Additionally, managers will likely see a short daily brief that highlights the few issues that matter and the next best action for each, he explained.
The next wave of innovation will likely focus on making backend systems smarter, more connected, and more resilient, according to Jakovleva. “When supply chains, financial processes, and operational workflows run seamlessly, it creates the conditions needed for staff to be more efficient, for sustainability goals to be achieved, and for guest service quality to become more refined,” she said.
This article was originally published in the October edition of Hotel Management magazine. Subscribe here.