The Future of Hospitality Is in a Fine-Tuned Blend of Humans and Technology
Max Starkov argues that guests are already comfortable with “human-less” service in accommodations, and hotels should respond by using AI, robotics, mobile, and cloud tools to do more with fewer staff while keeping a warm human face where it matters most. Using vacation rentals as proof that self-service works at scale, he links accelerated tech adoption to solving labor shortages and rising costs, and predicts a major staffing reduction by...
The classic philosophy in hospitality goes like this: customers - leisure, business, corporate group or SMERF members - require services provided by super nice, smiling, well-trained humans. Think the Ritz Carlton’s employees and their little “Gold Standards” handbook that ensures above-and-beyond customer service. After all, this is the reason why our industry is called “hospitality”, because our guests supposedly expect their hosts - the hotel staff themselves - to provide “human” services at all touchpoints of the guest experience.
I believe the notion that guests are demanding human-provided services is greatly exaggerated, especially today. A great example of why guests do not care about human-provided services as much as some in our industry think comes from the vacation rental sector.
The Hotel Yearbook 2026 - Annual Edition
The hotel industry in 2026 finds itself at the meeting point of powerful, converging forces: rapid technological progress, climate urgency, shifting guest expectations, labour market disruption and economic realignment. This edition of The HOTEL Yearbook looks at how hotel organisations respond, not by choosing one direction over another, but by designing integrated strategies that combine digital and human, global and local, automation and empathy. A large share of this year’s contributions focuses in particular on artificial intelligence and its growing influence across almost every segment of hospitality, confirming AI as one of the defining themes of this moment. Bringing together expert voices from around the world, the publication explores strategy, technology, sustainability, finance, asset management, food and beverage, human resources, design and more, all through the lens of intentional hybridity in an age of convergence. The message is clear: in 2026, hybridity is no longer optional; it is strategic, and it will be the leaders who approach it with real intention who shape the future of our industry.