F&B, M&E, Ancillary Revenue

For the past few years, the conversation around artificial intelligence in hospitality has been dominated by a single question: Will AI replace the people who run our hotels, inns, and operations? It is an understandable concern. The industry is grappling with persistent staffing challenges, and many vendors promise fully autonomous systems that can “take work off your plate.” The subtext is clear. You hand over decisions to the machine and trust that the black box will get it right.

Based on extensive industry research and expertise from EHL faculty members and the EHL’s renowned network of industry leaders, the EHL Insights Report: Hospitality Outlook 2026 offers an in-depth perspective on where the industry is heading in the coming years.

Earlier this week, I found myself at Expedia Group’s Roman offices, seated across from Elisa Ragno for Guess the Guest. The plan, at least on paper, was simple: talk about AI and hospitality. What happened instead was closer to a dérive, a drift across the borderlands where travel, technology, and human complexity leak into each other. Elisa had the admirable courage to ask real questions and the even greater courage to let me answer them without a safety net.

An important guiding principle for hotel design, in-room features and public amenities is, “As one does at home, one will soon expect at hotels.” What this implies is that if hotels are not keeping up with the trends, then they are either losing bookings or will have a hard time growing nightly rates beyond what the commoditized market-determined price commands.

In an industry defined by rapid change and relentless competition, leadership transitions can determine whether a hospitality firm adapts or falls behind. This article unpacks how CEO turnover can become a lever for innovation, exploring who drives the boldest transformations, which organizational structures amplify or constrain them, and what these dynamics mean for boards shaping the next generation of leaders.

There’s an explosion of talk about AI in hotels, but very little actual application. Or is there? AI has been coming to hotels for a while, but not in the flashy, headline-grabbing way many expect. There won’t be a moment when a chatbot takes over the front desk or a robot manages your F&B logistics overnight. Instead, AI is creeping into every corner of hotel operations in small, incremental ways. Quietly. Invisibly. Often without anyone calling it AI at all.

We’ve heard this promise before. The Internet was supposed to decentralize travel. Then came social media, metasearch, and the so-called “sharing economy.” Each new wave arrived with the same story: this time, hotels will finally connect directly with their guests again.

MICE means money for hotels. But what industries are worth capitalizing on? With a fast-moving economy, hotels risk missing out if they don’t stay aware and agile. Here’s what hoteliers in London need to know about the state of MICE right now to define a Find, Book and Grow strategy that works.

Despite global economic pressures, both business and leisure travel continue to grow, with global tourism rising five percent in the first six months of 2025. Amidst that growth, the sector is becoming increasingly competitive as more destinations seek to boost their economies and create jobs through tourism.

Undoubtedly one of the oldest commercial activities in the world, hospitality has constantly reinvented itself, sometimes simply by returning to its roots. During its expansion phase, it initially relied on new standardised concepts, seeking to respond in scale to the ever-increasing growth in travel accompanying the urbanisation of the Baby Boomers. Then it remembered the days when the inn was the centre of the village, the expression of local life and a meeting place for different generations and cultures.