| It's Thursday, February 12. Accor now ties procurement bonuses to supplier climate targets, with 77% of global spend enrolled in its net-zero program. AHLA projects $805B in 2026 guest spend while GOPPAR holds at 90% of 2019 levels and job openings fall to a five-year low. Luxury hotels posted 6% RevPAR growth as economy fell 8%, Truist flags Hyatt and questions Airbnb's mid-market exposure, and OpenAI begins testing ads inside ChatGPT with travel expected to join. Marriott leans on credit card fees, Yum! centralizes tech, and 61% of travel brands test agentic AI. | 📢 This week's shoutout goes to Matthijs Welle, CEO at Mews for having me on the podcast. Hotels and hotel tech are incredible places to be investing and working right now. We talk about why that is and more on this episode of the Matt Talks podcast. 👉 Join the conversation | | TOGETHER WITH CLOUDBEDS | | Scaling fast is one thing. Launching a 405-room flagship resort is another. When tech entrepreneur turned hotel owner Allessio Ripanti prepared to open Malta's Vegas Resort, he needed a platform powerful enough to support rapid growth, custom development, and total operational control. He chose Cloudbeds and never looked back. | ✅ Built to Scale with Confidence: Expanded from 8 to 580 rooms across six properties, including the launch of a 405-room resort on one stable, reliable platform. ✅ Open API, Unlimited Flexibility: Developed custom housekeeping and rate management apps using Cloudbeds' powerful, easy-to-use API. ✅ Fast Onboarding, Seamless Operations: User-friendly design enables new staff to become fully independent in as little as two weeks.
| By centralizing operations on Cloudbeds, Ripanti's Leo Property Group streamlined distribution, automated rate management, improved guest feedback scores, and built a tech-driven foundation for long-term growth—all on a system they trust completely. | 👉 See how Cloudbeds powers high-stakes hotel growth | |
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| | | GOING DEEPER | 1. Accor Ties Procurement Bonuses to Supplier Climate Goals | Accor has linked procurement team bonuses to how well they engage suppliers aligned with the company's decarbonization targets, a policy in place since 2024. Already, over 1,000 suppliers—covering 77% of Accor's global spend—have joined the company's "Achieving Net Zero Together" program, which aims to cut Scope 3 emissions by 28% by 2030. | 🎯 Why it matters: Scope 3 emissions—mainly from food, laundry, and supplier transport—are the largest contributors to a hotel's carbon footprint. By incentivizing its 260 procurement specialists through bonus structures and supplier scoring, Accor is pushing climate accountability upstream while proving that greener operations can also improve margins. | 🔑 Key takeaway: For hotel owners and operators, Accor's model shows that sustainable sourcing isn't just good PR—it can cut long-term costs through smarter buying (e.g., durable furniture, heat pumps, low-temp linen washing). Owners should expect more structured climate-linked procurement from brands, and may need to prepare for both data demands and supplier audits in the coming years. Read More → | 2. Wallstreet: Economy Hotels are Back | Travel demand is splitting sharply along income lines: luxury hotels saw 6% RevPAR growth in Q4, while economy hotels fell 8%. But Truist analyst C. Patrick Scholes sees early signs of recovery in budget-focused brands like Choice Hotels, forecasting RevPAR to rise 2.1% by 2026 after a decline in 2025. He also highlights Hyatt as a standout among upscale operators and calls Airbnb overvalued given its mid-market exposure. | 🎯 Why it matters: A dramatic bifurcation in traveler behavior—unseen in the past 40 years—is reshaping hotel performance. Upper-income guests are spending, but mid-to-lower-tier consumers are pulling back, exposing over-leveraged brands and inflating luxury operators. | 🔑 Key takeaway: Hotel operators in the economy and midscale segments (like Choice) must plan for uneven recovery, but may benefit from easy year-over-year comps, major events (World Cup, U.S. 250th), and favorable holiday timing. Luxury-focused brands like Hyatt are better positioned for growth, while valuations at Airbnb and even Marriott may not justify their exposure to pressured customer segments. Read More → | 3. AHLA 2026 Outlook Projects $805B Guest Spend | The American Hotel & Lodging Association's 2026 State of the Industry report highlights cautious optimism: hotel guest spending is expected to reach $805 billion this year a 1.7% increase while the industry adds over 30,000 jobs. However, gross operating profit per available room (GOPPAR) remains stuck at 90% of 2019 levels due to persistent cost pressures. | 🎯 Why it matters: Hotels can't rely on traditional labor-intensive service models alone. Tech is a core part of adapting to tighter labor markets, higher guest expectations, and competitive pressures from both OTAs and non-traditional platforms. | 🔑 Key takeaway: To future-proof their businesses, hotel executives should align technology strategy with core operational and revenue goals: adopt systems that support contactless service, dynamic pricing, personalized guest experiences, and real-time data insights. Thoughtful tech investment will help hotels navigate labor constraints, enhance guest satisfaction, and strengthen resilience in 2026 and beyond. Read More → |
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| | TOOLS & TACTICS | ⚒️ Hotel Tech Tools You've Gotta Try | ✅ Cloudbeds: All-in-one hotel management software at the speed of AI. | ✅ Journey Rewards: Drive repeat visits & upsell revenue with targeted perks and rewards. | ✅ ROH: Automate sales and finance to save time and capture more revenue. | ✅ Canary Technologies: Powerful but simple AI powered digital guest journey platform. | |
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| | | | | | PODCAST SPOTLIGHT
CEO of QDI USA on OTA-to-Direct Booking Plays | What if your busiest check-in nights didn't require a front-desk line at all—even when most guests booked through OTAs? In this episode, Fabio Passos, Owner & CEO of QDI USA Developments (a multi-property operator with hotels across Florida and Brazil) breaks down the practical playbook he's used to modernize arrivals, improve security, and squeeze more signal out of property data—without waiting for a brand to catch up. | Key Takeaways: | How to eliminate peak-arrival bottlenecks with mobile keys + self-service check-in (including the exact pre-arrival cadence: timed emails, app adoption, and how to handle ID/vehicle info requirements without clogging the desk). How to keep security tight when guests bypass the front desk: Fabio shares the operational counterweights—staff training plus "smart camera" monitoring for common loopholes (like propped stairwell doors) so automation doesn't mean losing control. How to turn messaging into a direct channel—then scale it with AI: A surprisingly simple WhatsApp-led approach starts human-first, captures demand, and then gets trained into an AI agent to handle volume without needing staff online 24/7.
| Fabio's operator mindset spans two very different markets (Florida + Brazil), and he brings a distribution-aware view of tech—specifically solving for OTA-heavy demand where brand-only mobile keys don't help. He also shares a practical "aha" moment using ChatGPT to consolidate multi-hotel financials and dashboards from CSV exports—an unusually pragmatic, owner-level use case that goes beyond the typical "AI for marketing" talk. | 👉🏼 Check out the interview on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. |
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