Most hotel leaders will look back at 2026 and realize it was the year the rules changed without an announcement. There will be no single launch moment. No dramatic platform reveals that forces everyone to scramble. No overnight collapse of the systems hotels depend on today. What will happen instead is slower and more dangerous. The assumptions that shaped how hotels attracted demand, converted guests, and operated day to day will stop being true, one by one, until the old playbook no longer works, even though it still looks familiar.

Emily Weiss, Senior Managing Director and Travel Industry Lead at Accenture, argues that the industry cannot rely on higher ADRs to grow as RevPAR growth slows and costs rise. She explains how hotel brands are already shifting toward revenue beyond the room and stay, using retail and e commerce, bundled experiences, and next generation loyalty to keep guests engaged before, during, and after a visit. The message is clear: winners in 2026 and beyond will build lifestyle ecosystems that fit into how guests live and shop, not just how they sleep.

When you think about why people travel, traditional reasons like sightseeing, relaxation, and family time probably come to mind. As we enter 2026, there’s another major force reshaping the leisure travel landscape: food. Culinary tourism is no longer a side dish. This main course is changing how people choose destinations, their itineraries, and how they share their experiences.

Youri Sawerschel, Founder of Creative Supply, warns that luxury hotels are drifting into sameness and that infinity pools, marble lobbies, and “local experiences” are no longer enough to justify a premium. He argues that in an AI-fuelled copy-paste world, the real long-term advantage will come from building cultural capital – a clear cultural point of view, active cultural production, and carefully curated communities – so that luxury brands become genuine cultural forces, not just nice places to sleep.