As hotel owners navigate a more complex operating landscape, balancing rising costs with evolving guest expectations has become a critical challenge. At the same time, advances in artificial intelligence and automation are creating new opportunities to drive efficiency, capture demand and improve returns.
Ahead of The Hospitality Show, Nov. 2-4 in Miami, Hotel Management spoke with Scott Strickland, chief commercial officer of Wyndham Hotels & Resorts and The Hospitality Show advisory board member, about the biggest threats and opportunities facing hotel profitability, the role of AI in hotel operations and why staying closely connected to owners is more important than ever.
1. What's the biggest threat to hotel profitability right now, and what's the biggest opportunity?
The biggest challenge is the continued pressure on hotel operating costs. Labor, insurance, utilities and other expenses have all risen, while demand and rate growth have normalized, particularly in the lower chain scales. That puts an even greater premium on helping owners control the costs they can control and capture every available dollar of demand. The opportunity is technology—using it to simplify operations, automate routine work and drive more profitable direct business to hotels. For us, it comes down to respecting the owner's capital and making sure the investments we ask them to make have a clear path to a return.
2. What's the one thing your company is doing today to optimize operations, improve efficiency or drive better returns?
A great example is Wyndham Connect, our AI-powered guest engagement platform, which is now live across more than 5,000 hotels. At its core, Connect helps hotels automate and simplify key parts of the guest journey—from messaging and mobile check-in and checkout to pre-stay upgrades that can drive meaningful incremental revenue. In fact, our most engaged hotels are generating hundreds of thousands of dollars in ancillary revenue through the platform. For owners looking to take it a step further, Wyndham AI Concierge—a premium add-on—layers-in agentic voice capabilities, helping ensure every call is answered and every potential booking is captured, 24/7. Together, they’re helping hotels operate more efficiently, take pressure off their teams and drive better returns—all while delivering a more seamless experience for guests.
3. What guest expectation has changed the most, and how are hotels adapting without sacrificing margins?
Guests increasingly expect convenience on their terms. They want to be able to get an answer, make a request or book a room quickly, regardless of the channel or time of day. The challenge is delivering that level of responsiveness without simply adding more labor. That's where technology can be incredibly powerful. If AI can handle a routine phone call or answer a common question, hotel teams can spend more of their time delivering the kind of personal hospitality that technology can't replace. Done well, you can improve the guest experience and the economics at the same time.
4. Where do you see AI delivering the most tangible value in hotel operations over the next few years?
The biggest near-term opportunity is using AI to take friction out of both the guest journey and hotel operations. We're already seeing that with voice and messaging—AI can answer questions, capture demand and convert reservations 24/7. Over time, I think you'll see that expand into more of the repetitive, transactional work that consumes hotel teams' time today. What's exciting is that we're moving beyond AI that simply provides information to AI that can actually take action. For hotel owners, that's where the value becomes very tangible: less administrative burden, better conversion and more time for teams to focus on hospitality.
5. Why is The Hospitality Show valuable to you personally, and how does it benefit your company?
Hospitality is ultimately a relationship business, and The Hospitality Show brings together the people who are actually shaping where the industry goes next—owners, operators, brands and technology partners. Personally, I value the opportunity to hear directly from owners about what's working, where they're feeling pressure and what they need from us. For Wyndham, those conversations are incredibly important. They help us stay close to our franchisees, challenge our own thinking and make sure the solutions we're building are addressing real needs at the hotel level. It's also a great forum to exchange ideas and see where innovation across the industry is headed.