The industry has always been resilient, but rising guest expectations, stretched teams and external pressures are causing strain behind the scenes.
Hospitality AI tech company Access Hospitality surveyed 1,000 businesses across six international markets. They have identified some of the biggest challenges the hotel industry is currently facing and revealed how operators can mitigate them amid busy trading periods this summer, alongside things like concerts, large sporting events and bank holidays.
85% of hotels struggle with forecasting challenges
| Rank | Operation Group | % that say it’s a challenge |
| 1 | Forecasting & Revenue Optimisation | 90% |
| 2 | Staff & Operational Efficiency | 89% |
| 3 | Guest Management & Experience | 88% |
| 4 | Stock & Inventory Control | 87% |
Forecasting & revenue optimisation are the biggest challenges
Forecasting and revenue management are the number-one concerns for operators, with a striking 90% of hoteliers reporting it as a significant challenge.
When looking further at forecasting, they also found that 48% of operators find it hard to forecast guest demand and 46% struggle to predict restaurant or bar traffic.
Staffing and operational efficiency are challenges cited by 89% of hoteliers
Staffing and Operational efficiency ranked second among the biggest issues hoteliers face, with 89% of businesses citing it as a problem.
Similarly, 51% of hoteliers said identifying recurring issues to improve service causes operational strain on their team.
87% of operators struggle with Stock and Inventory Control
Over four-fifths of hotel operators (87%) admitted that stock and inventory control are among the biggest challenges they face.
Over one-third of UK and Irish hotel operators (34%) said real-time price optimisation is a challenge, and 33% admitted to missing upsell opportunities daily.
Champa Magesh, Managing Director at Access Hospitality, comments:
“Our survey data reveals a pattern. Many of the hotel industry’s biggest challenges come from forecasting opportunities, staff efficiency, and managing day-to-day guest needs.
“When you struggle to forecast footfall, it can have a knock-on effect. When demand isn’t forecasted correctly, hotels risk being understaffed and unprepared during peak periods.
“Adopting AI-optimised solutions, such as Access Hospitality’s Access Evo Analytics, allows operators to centralise front-of-house, back-of-house, and CRM data into a single, cohesive dashboard.
“With intelligent predictive analytics, Access Evo highlights opportunities, such as anticipated spikes in customer demand, enabling them to make more informed decisions around staffing levels, stock ordering and promotional activity.
“With hotel operators in the UK and Ireland losing on average 4% of annual revenue per site due to operational inefficiencies, having real-time visibility of performance data can help operators respond quickly to changing circumstances and maximise revenue opportunities.”
Please find the full study here.
