Finland, 5 October 2026 — Nearly half of vacation rental operators expect AI agents to help run their businesses within the next 12 months, signaling a rapid shift towards giving AI greater responsibility for recurring business operations.
A new survey of more than 700 property managers and owners by leading vacation rental management software Hostaway found that 48% expect to be running AI agents or fully automated workflows within a year, more than double the 20% operating at that level today.
AI is already firmly established across the sector, with 89% of respondents using it in some form. Yet for most operators, its role remains relatively limited. 59% currently use conversational AI, treating it largely as a search tool or sounding board for more complex problems, while only 20% have progressed to agents or more autonomous workflows that can take responsibility for recurring tasks or execute against broader goals.
AI remains concentrated at the guest-facing end of the business
Current AI adoption is highest in areas where the technology has already proved its value. More than half (58%) of operators use AI for guest experience tasks such as messaging and review responses, while 50% use it for marketing and listing optimization.
Adoption drops sharply deeper inside the business. Just 14% use AI for sales and owner acquisition, while 11% use it for hiring and team management, leaving significant scope for operators to apply AI to the processes involved in running and growing their businesses.
The research also highlights a technology challenge for operators looking to introduce more autonomous AI. Only 16% say their data is fully centralized across their tech stack, potentially limiting the context AI agents can draw on when carrying out tasks across different areas of the business.
Trust could determine how quickly operators hand over more responsibility
As operators look to give AI greater autonomy, trust remains the biggest obstacle. More than a third (35%) named trust in AI accuracy as the biggest factor holding them back from expanding their use of the technology.
That caution is already visible in how operators work with AI today, with 32% still reviewing everything AI produces before acting on it.
Marcus Rader, CEO and Co-Founder of Hostaway, said: “Most vacation rental operators are already using AI. The next challenge is giving it enough context to actually work on its own, so it takes tasks off people’s plates instead of just assisting with them. That means teaching it your brand voice and showing it real examples of situations you’ve handled, then making sure it has every piece of data it needs to actually understand what’s happening.
“Operators aren’t waiting around for that to happen either. They’re moving fast, and they want AI that understands their business and gets things done without needing to be walked through every step. Trust, connected data, and technology built around how property managers actually work are what will get us there.”
More findings from Hostaway’s AI Report can be found here.
