Chatbots and Customer Data Management leads are the two most common uses of AI across the hospitality sector, according to new industry research.
The comprehensive report ‘AI & Automation in Hospitality: Navigating Today’s Challenges, Shaping Tomorrow’s Gains’ was compiled by hospitality commerce company, h2c GmbH, in collaboration with industry-leading sponsors.
The research presents insights from 189 quantitative responses and 26 executive interviews with industry leaders – including hotel chain executives and IT vendors – across 171 hotel chains, representing over 11,000 properties and 1.3 million rooms worldwide.
According to the data, 78% of hotel chains are already using AI, and 89% plan to expand applications in the next 12–24 months. Chatbots are the most common use case today (42%), while Customer Data Management leads planned expansions (50%).
Despite high adoption (not always accompanied by successful outcomes) and moderate trust in AI capabilities, true reliance on AI solutions is low, with an average reliance score of just 4.7 out of 10.
Only 6% of hotel chains have a comprehensive company-wide AI strategy.
The study revealed that the main adoption blockers including a lack of AI expertise (62%), unclear strategy (51%), and integration challenges (45%) are the top obstacles cited by hotel chains.
Notably, the top adoption barrier is twice as big a challenge as organisational resistance to change (31%).
Further, Business Intelligence (78%) is viewed as the most valuable AI application today, closely followed by guest communications via chatbots and virtual assistants (77%) and digital marketing (72%).
Looking ahead, personalised booking experiences and upselling are the top initiatives planned for enhancing the guest experience.
The majority of hoteliers view AI primarily as an enabler that frees staff to focus on more strategic and guest-centric roles, rather than as a threat to jobs.
However, within five years, more than four in ten hoteliers expect that reservations and call centre functions, guest data management, revenue management, and digital marketing will be fully automated.
