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, hospitality market leaders are looking towards 2026 with mindful optimism. Rising operational expenses are slated to challenge owners this year and lower-tier sections might have a hard time amidst a growing wealth bifurcation.

And through it all, hotel business are expected to fortify their portfolios with brand-new brand offerings and collaborations. As the year gets underway, Hotel Dive talked to hospitality leaders from varying corners of the market about their 2026 predictions. Below are the top trends expected to impact hotel operations, efficiency, net unit growth and more this year.

Overall salaries, wages and benefits paid by U.S. hotels increased to $127 billion in 2025, according to information from the American Hotel & Lodging Association, shared with Hotel Dive. In 2026, that figure is projected to climb up to $131 billion, representing a roughly 3% year-over-year increase, per AHLA. For hotel owners, increasing labor costs present an obstacle to net operating earnings development, Kevin Davis, Americas CEO at JLL Hotels & Hospitality, told Hotel Dive.

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"It is an absolute concern." Rising labor expenses have been a challenge for hoteliers for many years, Davis said, especially following the COVID-19 pandemic. Overall, hotel labor costs have increased 15.3% from 2019 to 2025, outpacing the 12.8% growth in overall operating earnings, according to AHLA. Over the last few years, thousands of union hotel workers have actually gone on strike demanding higher salaries in order to keep up with the increasing expense of living in locations such as California, Hawaii and Las Vegas.

3, 2024 in San Francisco, California. Justin Sullivan by means of Getty Images In 2026, Davis noted, union negotiations will be "front and center" in New york city City, where the New York City Hotel and Video gaming Trades Council's union contract with the Hotel Association of New York City is set to end in July.

"Need has not kept up with this speed," she stated. Incomes, earnings and payroll-related expenditures paid by hotels now account for more than 32% of overall revenue, according to AHLA.

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As more hotel visitors turn to synthetic intelligence to improve their travel experience, reserving hotels straight through big language designs (LLMs) may be next, hospitality professionals stated. Agentic commerce a procedure by which self-governing AI agents act upon behalf of a consumer to find, compare and finish purchases is a trend that has sped up throughout industries like retail.

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According to PwC's 2025 Vacation Outlook report, 76% of millennials stated they're likely to use AI for travel recommendations. That number is growing, Jonathan Kletzel, PwC's travel, transportation and logistics leader, informed Hotel Dive. Michael Klein Head of retail, travel and hospitality product marketing at Talkdesk To stay competitive with direct reservation, bigger multibrand hotel companies will "embed LLMs into their own brand name websites and mobile apps, and change the method the customer searches," Kletzel stated.

"If you are not visible in an LLM search results page which many brand names aren't, and this is the big panic that they're all going through today customers aren't going to consider you," he stated. Michael Klein, head of retail, travel and hospitality product marketing at AI client experience platform Talkdesk, likewise told Hotel Dive that hospitality players need to guarantee their home details is being indexed by LLMs to appear in traveler questions.