Looking Back: A Year of Asking the Right Questions
As we close out 2025, it feels like the right moment to look back at what actually mattered to our industry this year. Not what the press releases said mattered, not what the conference keynotes predicted would matter, but what you, our readers, wanted to read about.
And here’s what stands out: this wasn’t a year of panic or dramatic pivots. It was a year of collective soul-searching. The industry spent 2025 asking itself some fundamental questions about technology, identity, and what hospitality even means when machines can book rooms, answer questions, and predict what guests want before they know it themselves.
Looking at our most-read content, there’s a pattern. You weren’t just looking for tactical tips. You were looking for validation. For signals that others in the industry are seeing what you’re seeing. As Martin Soler’s annual zeitgeist analysis noted, trend articles this year served as “confirmation that others are seeing the same thing.” That shift from direction-seeking to validation-seeking tells us something important about where we are as an industry.
AI: From Hype to “Okay, But Who Actually Benefits?”
If 2024 was the year everyone talked about AI, 2025 was when the conversation grew up. The breathless excitement gave way to harder, more practical questions. Not “Should we use AI?” but “Who wins when we do?”
Your reading habits reflected this maturation. Articles about agentic AI moving from search to action performed well, as did pieces examining how AI is being embedded into existing systems rather than deployed as standalone products. The PMS, for instance, is reclaiming its role as the operational core, now enhanced by AI rather than threatened by it.
Perhaps the most striking data point came from Accenture’s research on AI and consumer relationships: 36% of active AI users now consider the technology a “good friend.” Not a tool. A friend. For an industry built on human connection, that should make us think carefully about what we’re actually competing with.
The good news? The industry’s response has been thoughtful. EHL’s technology trends analysis showed AI becoming a layer within existing systems rather than a destination in itself. And insights from ITB 2025 emphasized what the best operators already know: the winning hotels won’t choose between AI and the human touch. They’ll figure out how to use one to amplify the other.
Distribution: The Battle Gets More Complicated
The distribution conversation in 2025 felt different. Booking.com held onto its top spot in brand visibility for the third straight year, but the discussions weren’t really about market share anymore. They were about AI reshaping how travelers discover hotels in the first place.
When TikTok launched in-app hotel booking through Booking.com in August, it became clear that the old funnel metaphor doesn’t work anymore. Discovery, comparison, and booking are collapsing into single moments across platforms where hotels have limited visibility.
No surprise, then, that articles about OTA winback strategies in the AI era and converting OTA guests to direct bookers ranked among our most-read. The economics haven’t changed, direct bookings remain dramatically more profitable, but the tactics need constant updating.
The big question hoteliers kept asking: do we need another mega OTA? The consensus seems to be that what hotels actually need isn’t more intermediaries, but stronger direct channels, smarter use of data, and partners who add value rather than just reshuffle existing bookings.
The Industry Debates: World Panel Viewpoints
Some of the most engaging discussions this year happened in our World Panel, where industry experts weighed in on the questions keeping hoteliers up at night.
The distribution debate got particularly heated when we asked: should hoteliers forget about direct online distribution and use the OTAs as their exclusive distribution channel? The response was emphatic. As one expert put it, embedding OTA links into your hotel’s own website is like “handing them the password to your bank account.” The panel reinforced what the data shows: direct bookings aren’t just cheaper, they’re 10x more valuable as first-party data generators.
On the regulatory front, Switzerland’s price watchdog ruling on Booking.com commissions sparked debate about whether government intervention helps or hurts. The consensus? It’s complicated. Lower commissions sound great, but history shows that when France outlawed rate parity in 2014, OTA market share actually doubled.
The AI policy discussion took a geopolitical turn with Ira Vouk’s viewpoint on whether global AI regulation is creating a two-speed world. For European hoteliers especially, the implications are real: regulatory friction means some AI features launch elsewhere first.
And in December, we asked 27 technology leaders which hotel function their AI solutions will disrupt most in 2026. The answers revealed something striking: the industry isn’t debating whether AI will transform hospitality. It’s already building the infrastructure. As Floor Bleeker and Henri Roelings summarized, the most consistent theme is the collapse of siloed operations into unified, AI-driven platforms.
Guest Experience: Still the Thing That Actually Matters
Here’s something interesting: amid all the technology talk, guest experience and design content held steady in third place throughout the year. That consistency is significant.
While tech and economics bounced around in prominence, articles about the physical and emotional hotel experience maintained their appeal. Welcome is a feeling, as one popular piece put it. The conversation wasn’t about personalization hype but about genuine experience differentiation, design as a commercial lever, and emotional resonance over feature lists.
More than 90% of luxury travelers now want wellness, but what they mean by wellness has evolved beyond spa treatments to include sleep optimization, mental health support, and transformation over relaxation. The message from readers seems clear: in an AI-mediated future, how you make people feel becomes the ultimate differentiator.
Leadership in Focus: What Makes a Great GM?
One of our most-read World Panel discussions this year tackled a deceptively simple question: what is the single decisive skill that separates an outstanding luxury hotel General Manager from the rest?
More than 20 GMs from leading properties worldwide responded, and the answers shared striking common ground. It’s not operational precision. It’s emotional intelligence, the ability to make people feel “heard and seen,” as Conrad New York’s Chintan Dadhich put it. Or as Four Seasons GM Kai Dieckmann noted: “Technological advancement is desirable but will never substitute for the empathetic human touch.”
That theme, technology enabling rather than replacing human connection, ran through much of this year’s leadership content.
The PMS Wars Are On
One of the less-hyped but significant storylines of 2025 was the renewed focus on property management systems. PMS-related headlines increased noticeably, and the subtext is clear: hotels are re-evaluating their long-term tech foundations, not just adding new tools on top.
New research showed modern PMS platforms saving hotels 500+ hours annually, transforming what was once back-office software into strategic infrastructure. Articles on essential tech for general managers and PMS trends for 2025 performed consistently well.
The takeaway? Cloud is now assumed rather than debated. The real value lies in interoperability, scalability, and how well systems talk to each other. Hotels that built their tech stack on solid foundations are now reaping the benefits; those still running legacy systems are feeling the pain.
Workforce: Still Challenging, But the Conversation Has Shifted
Labor challenges didn’t go away in 2025. But the conversation shifted from “how do we fill positions” to “how do we fundamentally reimagine the employee journey.”
Service robotics for cleaning and delivery, AI-driven scheduling, predictive workforce management, these solutions gained traction. But the articles that resonated most acknowledged what operators know instinctively: automation should elevate human interaction, not replace it. The goal is to automate the repetitive so staff can focus on what humans do best, connecting with guests in ways machines can’t replicate.
There’s also growing recognition that attracting talent requires more than competitive wages. Flexibility, career development, and technology that makes work easier rather than harder have become baseline expectations.
Brands Keep Expanding (But Is More Always Better?)
2025 saw continued brand proliferation. Hilton hit 1,000 hotels in their luxury and lifestyle portfolios, with plans to add 150+ more. Marriott appeared in headlines more frequently than in recent years, driven by portfolio expansion and restructuring.
But there’s an implicit question in much of this coverage: does more brands mean more choice, or more confusion? The soft brand phenomenon continues, even as independent hotels weigh whether affiliation is worth the cost. The answer depends entirely on execution, and readers seemed hungry for case studies showing what actually works.
Sustainability: Becoming Background (In a Good Way)
Sustainability coverage declined in raw volume this year, but that might be good news. It’s becoming embedded in operational discussions rather than standing apart as a separate topic.
Hilton’s Travel with Purpose initiative reported over 452,000 volunteer hours globally. Major brands continued advancing science-based targets. Spanish cities emerged as sustainability leaders.
But perhaps the most thought-provoking take came from Professor Willy Legrand in our World Panel on escaping the low-impact loop: the industry must move “from sustaining to healing,” from LED bulbs and towel reuse to genuinely regenerative practices. The 76% of travelers who say they care about sustainability aren’t going anywhere. They’re becoming the majority, not the niche.
What’s Emerging
A few undercurrents worth watching:
The booking funnel is dead. Travelers don’t move linearly from awareness to booking anymore. They ask AI assistants questions and expect instant, bookable answers. The share of travelers using chatbots for planning nearly doubled this year. As our World Panel on third-party control over search and booking explored, the competition has shifted to data ownership and direct relationships.
F&B is having a moment. Hotel restaurants stepped into the spotlight, no longer afterthoughts but destination experiences in their own right. Properties that figure out how to make dining a draw rather than a convenience are seeing real returns.
Boutique is winning on experience. While larger brands scale, boutique properties are doubling down on what they do best: individuality, story, and soul. Membership-driven hospitality is gaining traction, combining exclusivity with community.
Uncertainty is the new normal. More than half of consumers now see uncertainty as their baseline assumption, a sentiment that doubled in one year. Hotels that build resilience into their business models will outperform those that don’t.
Looking Ahead: The Hybrid Future
We just published the Hotel Yearbook 2026, and it offers a useful framework for thinking about what’s next. Titled “Converging Forces – The Future is Hybrid by Design,” it makes a compelling argument: the most resilient hotel organizations will be those that embrace hybridity intentionally. Digital and human. Global and local. Automation and empathy. Standardization and personalization.
The winners in 2026 won’t be those who choose technology or humanity, direct or distribution, efficiency or experience. They’ll be the ones who figure out how to deliver both without compromise. That’s harder than picking a side, but it’s what the market increasingly demands.
AI will keep advancing. Distribution will grow more fragmented. Labor will remain tight. But the fundamentals haven’t changed: people want to feel welcome, valued, and understood. Technology is just a better way to deliver that at scale, if we use it right.
And Finally…
It’s been quite a year. Thanks for reading, for engaging, and for being part of a community that takes hospitality seriously while never forgetting that this industry exists to make people’s lives a little better.
A special thank you to all our contributors, the industry experts, consultants, technology leaders, academics, and operators who shared their knowledge, insights, and perspectives throughout the year. Hospitality Net exists because of you. Your willingness to share what you’ve learned makes this community stronger, and we’re grateful for every article, viewpoint, and World Panel contribution.
Here’s to 2026. May your rooms be full, your direct bookings plentiful, your teams energized, and your guests leaving with stories worth telling.
Happy New Year!
Team Hospitality Net
