Preface I: The Post-Human Traveler: Redefining the Guest
Zoltan Istvan challenges the hospitality industry to think beyond its most basic assumption: that its guests will remain human. From life extension drugs and brain implants to humanoid companions and autonomous AI entities, he maps a transhumanist future that renders current notions of the guest experience — and the guest itself — genuinely obsolete.
For centuries, the hospitality industry hasn’t changed much. Hotels, for example, typically provide people with a place to stay overnight in a safe, comfortable, and convenient setting. They haven’t changed much because people haven’t changed. After a long day toiling in a foreign place or exploring a new one, tourists want to return to a clean, safe place to regenerate.
But what happens when human beings fundamentally change? And I mean really change, like in the transhumanist sense. What happens to hospitality in a post-human existence? For example, what happens in the future when technology and modern science have eliminated sleep, something various companies are already working on in California, where I live? What happens when the need for food is eliminated from the human body because we now possess plant DNA and cells that allow people to photosynthesize energy from the sun, something transhumanists are already experimenting with?
The Hotel Yearbook 2026 - Technology Edition
The 2026 HOTEL Yearbook Technology Edition - AI Everywhere is fully geared towards AI and explores how hospitality technology is preparing for a decade of profound change. With a clear focus on practical impact rather than hype, this edition examines how intelligence is becoming embedded across the hotel technology stack and day-to-day workflows, reshaping operations, revenue, distribution, guest experience, and the back office.
The publication will feature 40 editorial articles by domain experts, combined with a catalog of AI Solution Snapshots, offering readers both strategic insight and a curated overview of AI products currently available to the market, as well as an AI Glossary - a glossary of the most commonly used AI-related terms in hospitality. It brings together a wide spectrum of contributors, including academics, startups, hotel brands, established solution providers, and industry insiders, offering evidence-led perspectives, real-world lessons, and actionable guidance on what hoteliers should prioritize now to stay competitive in an AI-driven future. The publication will launch at HITEC 2026, San Antonio.