Hotels Risk a Tech Trap – Fixing the Basics Unlocks Revenue

While AI dominates the conversation, hotels must grapple with a much broader and more urgent challenge: How can they modernize foundational systems to strengthen service rather than replace it?

Core infrastructure includes property management systems (PMS), revenue optimization engines, guest-facing tools, mobile integrations, and cybersecurity. Without a robust and adaptable tech stack, even the flashiest guest tech won’t deliver.

Skift Research’s latest report, Hotel Technology 2025: Foundations, Differentiators, and the Strategic Roadmap Ahead, identifies a gap: 63% of hotel tech budgets are still spent on maintaining legacy systems, many of which are not AI-compatible or do not allow for complex data integration. Yet this is where the real opportunity lies.