February 7, 2026

💻 For independent hotels, AI enhances guest experience by reducing common friction points like check-in questions and communication clarity. Instead of creating demand, AI prevents loss by refining pre-arrival messages, personalizing communication, and surfacing patterns that need attention. It helps streamline operations without adding staff. Key focus: clarity and consistency. AI isn’t about adding more tools but making existing processes more efficient, ensuring personalized, relevant communication, and revealing areas to strengthen guest trust.

📈 Travel industry leaders are harnessing generative and agentic AI after a year of hype. A global survey reveals these technologies are reshaping investment, product development, and competitive advantage. Key questions include AI prioritization in budgets, internal and customer applications, barriers to scaling, and readiness for agentic AI's next phase. Phocuswright's data-driven insights and Open Access research subscription aim to empower companies to outpace competition by identifying trends and opportunities faster.