Analyzing Fast Casual Sector Share Trends for 2026

, hospitality market leaders are looking toward 2026 with careful optimism. Rising operational costs are slated to challenge owners this year and lower-tier sections could have a hard time amid a growing wealth bifurcation.

And through it all, hotel companies are anticipated to fortify their portfolios with brand-new brand name offerings and partnerships. As the year gets underway, Hotel Dive talked with hospitality leaders from varying corners of the industry about their 2026 predictions. Below are the leading patterns anticipated to effect hotel operations, performance, net system growth and more this year.

Total salaries, wages and benefits paid by U.S. hotels increased to $127 billion in 2025, according to information from the American Hotel & Lodging Association, shown Hotel Dive. In 2026, that figure is projected to climb to $131 billion, representing a roughly 3% year-over-year increase, per AHLA. For hotel owners, increasing labor expenses position an obstacle to net operating earnings development, Kevin Davis, Americas CEO at JLL Hotels & Hospitality, informed Hotel Dive.

Expert Ways to Increase Brand Share via Expansion

"It is an outright concern." Rising labor costs have actually been an obstacle for hoteliers for several years, Davis said, especially following the COVID-19 pandemic. In general, hotel labor costs have actually increased 15.3% from 2019 to 2025, exceeding the 12.8% development in total operating revenue, according to AHLA. Over the last few years, thousands of union hotel workers have gone on strike requiring greater salaries in order to keep up with the increasing expense of living in places such as California, Hawaii and Las Vegas.

3, 2024 in San Francisco, California. Justin Sullivan through Getty Images In 2026, Davis kept in mind, union negotiations will be "front and center" in New York City, where the New York City Hotel and Video gaming Trades Council's union contract with the Hotel Association of New York City City is set to expire in July.

Last year, the union backed New York City's recently elected Mayor Zorhan Mamdani, who worked on a promise to raise New york city City's base pay to $30 per hour by 2030. Hotel market associations, including AHLA, have denounced similar legislation throughout the nation, consisting of the recently passed $30 wage regulation in Los Angeles. "Demand has not stayed up to date with this speed," she said. "We're likewise seeing these challenges compounded by legislation that targets hotel operations, such as extreme labor and licensing policies like the New York City Safe Hotels Act. When need is falling and expenses are soaring, the math merely does not build up." Wages, wages and payroll-related expenditures paid by hotels now account for more than 32% of overall profits, according to AHLA.

Modern Restaurant Market Trends Driving 2026 Success

As more hotel guests turn to expert system to boost their travel experience, reserving hotels straight through big language designs (LLMs) might be next, hospitality experts stated. Agentic commerce a procedure by which autonomous AI representatives act on behalf of a customer to discover, compare and complete purchases is a pattern that has sped up across industries like retail.

Freddy's Frozen Custard & Steakburgers

According to PwC's 2025 Holiday Outlook report, 76% of millennials said they're most likely to use AI for travel recommendations. A smaller sized portion (57%) said they 'd be likely to use it for scheduling travel. But that number is growing, Jonathan Kletzel, PwC's travel, transport and logistics leader, told Hotel Dive. "The number of consumers that are searching [by means of LLMs] for items and services in travel has actually ballooned in the last 12 months and is accelerating every day," Kletzel stated, including that inevitably, hotels will "take a difficult look at how they can allow commerce and deals through agentic [AI]"" [Brands] can construct on the trust they currently have if they do a great task with how they deal with AI in 2026." Michael Klein Head of retail, travel and hospitality product marketing at Talkdesk To stay competitive with direct reservation, larger multibrand hotel business will "embed LLMs into their own brand name websites and mobile apps, and change the way the customer searches," Kletzel said.

"If you are not discoverable in an LLM search result which lots of brand names aren't, and this is the huge panic that they're all going through today customers aren't going to consider you," he said. Michael Klein, head of retail, travel and hospitality product marketing at AI client experience platform Talkdesk, similarly informed Hotel Dive that hospitality players require to ensure their home information is being indexed by LLMs to appear in traveler questions.