Revenue Management & Channel Opt

The African hospitality sector today is poised for a period of significant growth. Figures from Statista point to revenue in travel and tourism hitting US$25.29 billion this year, with hotels making up a significant US$11.29 billion of that. Hotels will also likely be a major beneficiary of tourism and travel’s projected growth of 7.31% leading up to 2030.But hospitality investors and operators can’t simply set up shop on the continent and expect to succeed with a business-as-usual approach.

It’s that time of year again. Crystal balls are out and pundits are busy predicting whether hospitality transactions will rise or fall. No one knows for certain, though everyone seems to have an opinion.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is on every business leader’s mind at the moment, and this is no different in the hotels and tourism sectors. There is extensive research pointing to the potential productivity, financial, and operational benefits of AI, and businesses across the world are trying to capitalise on this exciting opportunity.

Hoteliers are telling us they are surrounded by tech-savvy guests, with many regularly turning to generative AI (GenAI) for recommendations on where to visit, stay, or eat. It can be exciting for travellers to discover hidden gems in cities they would have never otherwise found, or visit hole-in-the-wall cafes with unique menus. That heightened expectation of travel experiences is carried throughout their trips, which can add pressure on hoteliers to assess GenAI for how it can help to improve their business and customer experiences.

Every Monday morning, revenue managers typically open five tabs: a legacy RMS, a spreadsheet with last week’s pickup, an OTA dashboard, a STR report, and their inbox. Then comes the data collection to analyse: What changed? Where is demand shifting? What’s the story behind the numbers?

In hotel operations, automation doesn’t fail loudly. It fails quietly.

Most hotel leaders will look back at 2026 and realize it was the year the rules changed without an announcement.

Pets are an important part of our lives. They deserve to be treated to the same five-star experiences as we are. And there’s an emerging trend within luxury hospitality that proves it’s not only our animal friends who’ll benefit – hotels can too.

In recent years, massive leaps have been made in the development of humanoid robots. The idea of making mechanical humans that can do our chores for us is as old as Talos, the fictional bronze man that was thought up by the ancient Greeks in 300 B.C. However, recent developments in robot building might make human-shaped robots a real possibility in people’s houses in the near future, and possibly also in our professional work environments.

What will the guest journey look like in 2026 and beyond? As hospitality arrives at yet another critical moment, the 2026 Hospitality Industry Outlook authored by Mews explores how the rise of AI – both generative and agentic – is transforming how hotels operate, interact with guests and drive revenue.