Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift. That is why it is called the present. There’s something to be said about staying in the moment — living for the present and not for the future. Like when a guest walks into your hotel, you’re not going to ask them when they’re coming back before they’ve even checked in. No, you’re going to focus on things like that guest’s afternoon spa treatment — undisturbed and complete with a coconut mask, because it’s the preferred facial from their guest profile.
But it isn’t wise for your hotel to live solely in the present, and your guest data will support that. Past guest behavior and booking data influence future marketing efforts — it’s simple.
When we look at the bigger picture of hospitality, it’s good to stay in the present — perfecting how you use your technology day to day and making the guest experience memorable. But as we’ve seen from the digital transformation, if your hotel doesn’t look toward the future, it’s easy to get left behind. And when your hotel gets left behind, your guests get left behind, too.
Every year, industry experts predict the future of hospitality. Trends emerge — some with staying power and some that quickly fizzle out. Before you write off this article as a bunch of noise adding to the trends talk, we have to tell you that we were right about trends for 2024.
What happened last year?
We predicted three major trends that would hit hospitality in 2024, and all three came to fruition.
1. Even more data-driven decision-making
As Patrick Norton, Chief Marketing Officer at Brittain Resorts & Hotels, said on the Hotel Moment podcast, If you don’t have some sort of data-driven piece as the nucleus of your technology stack, then you’re doing something wrong, and you’re gonna fall behind. Patrick went on to say, 2024 is about data.
2024 was all about data. Google nixed its third-party cookie policy and said, Never mind, with a mid-year policy reversal. This made first-party data and zero-party data the it data types to bring hoteliers closer to their guests while respecting their privacy. And that opened the door for AI to shine when it came to data-driven decision-making. Why? Because in 2024, over 50% of customers said they were willing to provide data in exchange for AI personalization — making every email campaign and call with a reservation agent tailored to each guest.
2. The rise of Customer Data Platforms (CDPs)
Revinate launched its own CDP in 2024, so we have to say that we nailed that trend. But, we weren’t the only ones thinking about CDPs. Jason Pirock, Corporate Director of Marketing at Springboard Hospitality, predicted on the Hotel Moment podcast that in 2024 CDPs are going to continue to be a big topic of conversation. I continue to hear from industry folks about trying to connect data from all these different places and creating these more robust profiles.
By October 2024, the industry was still discussing CDPs, and this conversation is set to continue, with the CDP market forecasted to surpass $5.7 billion by 2026.
3. Location-specific experiences
Tapping into the taste of the local traveler or promoting events in your hotel’s city was never more lucrative than it was in 2024. From Taylor Swift increasing hotel bookings to the solar eclipse drawing thousands of tourists from states across the US, every one of these travelers needed a place to rest their heads for the night.
Hoteliers who leaned into the preferences of their local community to segment and personalize communication with guests did well.
And that’s exactly what Shawn Jereb, Senior VP of Revenue Management & Distribution at Montage International, predicted on the Hotel Moment podcast, saying, I think for the first time, what I’m experiencing is a divergence in specific products and locations. Meaning in the past, we’ve said, on a macroeconomic basis, ‘This is what’s happening in the United States.’ But now, it’s really come down to product by product, location by location.… So, it takes a much more, I think, fine-tuned approach than we’ve historically taken.
What trends are in store for 2025?
Just like last year, this year’s trends will be connected by a throughline of AI and data-centric initiatives, but with greater momentum. Because, as Aaron Miller, Vice President of CRM and Digital at Highgate, told us on the Hotel Moment podcast, Hotels are back — with the hospitality industry reaching record occupancy for major holidays and gaining the confidence to elevate the guest experience and tackle technology adoption. 52% of CEOs say their top goal over the next three years is to identify new sources of growth and new ways of generating revenue. And the top driver of new revenue? 57% of executives say it’s technological change.
That’s why hospitality trends for 2025 will hinge on technology that supports business goals and exceeds guest expectations.
Trend #1: The instant brand story
[Guests] want the quick Instagramification of — What is this hotel? Should I stay there? That’s Aaron Miller again, highlighting the harsh truth that we humans just don’t have the attention span we used to. In fact, the average attention span has dropped from around 2.5 minutes to approximately 45 seconds since 2004. Social media apps like Instagram capitalize on this shorter attention span by giving consumers just the right amount of information in just a brief window of time.
Pick your channel — email, voice, text, or web — you only have about 45 seconds to capture the attention of a prospective guest, tell your brand story, and turn them into a loyal booker. In 2025, accounting for the side effects of the digital world is your job if you want to create and sustain lasting connections with your guests.
So, how do you compete? According to Aaron, It’s good data in, good data out. We’re always trying to offer that opportunity to guests to say, “Tell us who you are and what you want. Imagine that? If you already know your guests’ preferences and expectations of an ideal stay, that bit of personalization could make a 45-second difference — preventing guests from dropping out of the booking engine, trashing your email, or hanging up on your reservations agent. By investing in technology that paints detailed guest profiles with colorful data, you can deliver targeted messaging with confidence, and ensure your guests engage with you on every platform.
Trend #2: Revenue beyond the room
Heads in beds — a phrase we hope disappears in 2025. Because getting heads in beds or concentrating on room revenue alone is proving to be an archaic approach to driving hotel profitability.
Ancillary revenue has most certainly entered the chat this year. Hoteliers need to go beyond the room and start leveraging their technology to upsell guests at the spa, the restaurant, the golf course, or any other amenity. Constant shifts in the economy and fluctuations in demand make it difficult to power profits on occupancy, alone.
From a commercial perspective, shifting focus to ancillary revenue is one of the smartest decisions you can make this year. Why? Because OTAs are on track to grow 4.7% by 2031 — increasing the challenge to encourage guests to book direct and choose you over OTAs. Direct bookings are the heart of your commercial strategy and the ticket to greater profitability. Unite your sales, revenue, and marketing teams to apply guest data to target your most profitable opportunities with personalization. Upsell with offers that put money back into your business rather than wasting marketing funds on OTAs.
Just take it from Marc Winchell, Corporate CRM at Pacific Hospitality Group, who told us on the Hotel Moment podcast how he’s using guest data to reclaim marketing share from OTAs, driving loyalty, and tapping into ancillary revenue. We are slowly piecing together this Ferrari of a CRM…And so I think 2025 is going to be an amazing year when it comes to personalization, and when it comes to the guest experience really coming full circle.
Trend #3: Data security and identity resolution
44% of hotel executives had data security concerns in 2024, and businesses anticipate malware and ransomware (76%) and accidental data loss (63%) to be the top security risks over the next six months.
What does that mean for your hotel and the guests who said they are willing to give you their data? It means adopting technology that supports guests’ privacy concerns, abides by new privacy laws, and protects your hotel’s data integrity will be a lifeline in 2025.
Hotel data security risks can take many forms, from bad actors accessing guest data by way of cyber attack to risks stemming from internal sources. Have data you know is sitting in a data silo? That situation screams vulnerability. Is your staff trying to resolve duplicate guest profiles manually to find the true identity of each guest? Another point of vulnerability since guest data and privacy records could accidentally be shared — that’s what we call data mismanagement.
2025 is not the year to be struggling with siloed data and duplicate profiles that put guest data in jeopardy. The solution to eliminating security risks is “centralized” data. Technology like a Customer Data Platform (CDP) is the perfect weapon for battling the dangers of data-related security risks and privacy breaches.
Revinate’s CDP helps you maintain a healthy database by providing a granular perspective on what data is collected, how it’s managed, how it moves, and where it’s stored. It puts control back into the hands of hoteliers. And it eliminates the problems created by data silos and data mismanagement by consolidating customer information all in one place.
Trend #4: Point-less loyalty
I think there is a bit of loyalty fatigue across the travel industry. Quite a hot take for 2025 from Carlo Del Mistro, Chief Digitial Officer at Ennismore. Don’t hoteliers want loyal guests? Don’t guests want to become loyal hotel members if they’re rewarded? Yes and yes but not in the way you think.
Traditionally, guest loyalty has been point-based, with travelers competing for maximum loyalty points and highest program tier, only to be served with a generic reward that every other member gets. Not anymore, because haven’t you heard? Points are pointless.
Carlo has pioneered a new membership prorgam at Ennismore, Dis-loyalty, that instead rewards guests based on the stay data and preferences, and encourages them to visit a variety of hotels within the Ennismore portfolio. There’s no tiers, there’s no points, just benefits, says Carlo.
And Ennismore isn’t the only brand ditching the points in 2025. Marc Winchell is pioneering PHG’s loyalty program with personalized rewards, saying, For our loyalty program, we are looking forward to these guests coming back. They experienced ‘Stay Golden’ at our first year of 2024. And we now are gonna deliver an even better experience for them in 2025.
Marc went on to say, When it comes to hospitality as a whole, think 2025 is gonna be an amazing year, right? I think we’re gonna have guests looking for that even deeper personalization, and hopefully in a way where we’ve convinced them to continue to book direct because we know that we can deliver on a better guest experience for them if they do.
Another thing we’re seeing happening is hyper-personalization, Carlo forecasted for 2025. What Carlo and Marc are emphasizing, and what many hoteliers are beginning to realize, is that points don’t drive guest loyalty; personalization drives guest loyalty. That split decision of when a guest chooses to book direct with your hotel again or hop to an OTA is determined by whether or not you made them feel special. Making their guests feel special is exactly how PHG drove $13 million in direct revenue with Revinate Marketing’s loyalty tiers.
Keep an eye on trends, but don’t lose focus
As we said at the beginning, there’s a lot of trends talk out there, and it’s easy to chase down the hottest takes in hopes they’ll make your hotel more successful. But, don’t lose focus on what truly matters — your guests. Every initiative you try means nothing if you don’t put your guests first with a data-driven approach to hospitality. Trends will come and go, but the power of your guest data stays the same — acting as a catalyst for change within your hotel.
To listen in on these insights and learn how hotel technology plays an active role in the success of hoteliers around the globe, tune in and subscribe to the Hotel Moment podcast.
About Revinate
Revinate is a direct booking platform that leads the hospitality industry in driving direct revenue and increased profitability.
Our products and our people combine to give hoteliers the superpowers they need to crush their goals. With Revinate, hoteliers shift share away from OTAs and drive tangible results across an individual property or a portfolio. Our industry-leading, AI-powered, customer data platform collects, unifies and, synthesizes data giving hoteliers a foundational advantage.
Hoteliers gain critical intelligence – guest lifetime spend, stay preferences, ancillary revenue, and more. With our Rich Guest Profiles database, hoteliers don’t need to guess who their most profitable guests are, or how to drive conversions across email, voice, messaging, and digital channels.
Revinate’s direct booking platform and omnichannel communication technology powers 900+ million Rich Guest Profiles across 12,500+ hotels to drive over $17 billion in direct revenue.
