SAN FRANCISCO, California—Canary Technologies released Navigating AI: Hospitality Shifts From Exploration to Execution, a global research study examining how hoteliers view AI’s impact and adoption across the industry. Based on insights from hospitality IT decision-makers, the report shows a clear shift: hotels are moving beyond exploring AI solutions and into implementation.
Hoteliers said they expect a big impact from AI and are making notable investments in the technology. According to the study, seventy-one percent of hospitality professionals said AI is having a significant or transformative impact on the industry. Meanwhile, eighty-five percent said they expect to allocate at least five percent of their IT budget to AI tools this year.
The findings also highlighted AI’s expanding role across the hotel technology stack, with eighty-two percent of respondents reporting that they expected AI usage to increase across their organization within the next year.
“AI has quickly become a foundational technology for the hospitality industry,” said Catherine Donaldson, director of marketing. “Hoteliers gaining an edge today aren’t just considering AI, they’re building strategies and moving quickly to adopt it. The data shows that hotels using AI are driving more revenue, gaining operational efficiencies, and improving guest satisfaction.”
Additional Findings
Hoteliers using AI reported wide-ranging benefits, the most common of which included saving staff time, higher guest satisfaction, automated workflows, and increased revenue. These outcomes demonstrated that AI is delivering real operational value while helping hotels create more personalized guest experiences.
In addition to presenting industry data, the report provided analysis and insights, learnings from early adopters, and a structured framework to help hotel leaders successfully implement AI in their organizations.
The report was based on a global survey conducted in early 2026 of over 400 professionals responsible for technology purchasing decisions at hotels, management companies, and brands. It represents a range of hotel sizes and classes from across North America, EMEA, and APAC.
