This article presents the second part of a large-scale study led by HES-SO Valais-Wallis in 1500 hotels across six European countries (1st part on AI published last 9th of July here).
The analysis sheds light on how hotels are adopting digital tools to manage pricing, sales channels, and performance metrics. While foundational technologies are widespread, strategic integration and advanced analytics are still the exception. In an increasingly competitive environment, the findings underscore the need to bridge the gap between digital infrastructure and its effective use for performance optimization.
— VennGage
Most Hotels Are Equipped But Not Fully Optimized
Three out of four hotels (75%) report using a Property Management System (PMS), confirming the PMS as a key piece of digital infrastructure. Similarly, 63% of hotels update their rates and availability through a channel manager, supporting centralized management across multiple online platforms. Yet despite these tools, practices remain fragmented. Over 70 different PMS brands are in use, highlighting a lack of standardization and potential barriers to interoperability, especially among small or independent properties.
Revenue Management Remains Underdeveloped
Four out of ten hotels have implemented a formal revenue management strategy. Among them, a wide range of tools are used to support decision-making. While PMS is the most commonly used system (76%), only 44% of these hotels use a dedicated Revenue Management System (RMS), and 33% still rely on Excel. One in five report using external consultants. This indicates that while some hotels leverage structured tools, many decisions are still based on manual methods or outside advice, pointing to a partial rather than systematic approach to yield optimization.
KPI Monitoring Focuses on Basics, Not Strategy
The majority of hotels actively track core performance metrics such as occupancy rate (82%), average daily rate (ADR, 61%) and revenue per available room (RevPAR 50%). However, more advanced indicators, such as gross operation profit per available room (GOPPAR 11%), net average daily rate (NetADR 23%) or earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA margin 22%), are used far less frequently. This suggests that performance evaluation in many hotels remains primarily focused on room revenue rather than overall profitability. Sustainability and HR indicators such as staff retention (12%) or energy use per room (20%) remain niche. The most strategic KPIs are largely concentrated in upscale properties (4–5 stars) and urban settings, where data capabilities and reporting systems tend to be more robust.
Fragmentation and Analytical Gaps Slow Progress
The study highlights a disconnect between infrastructure and insight. While many hotels report using digital tools, they rarely translate this into advanced analytics or dynamic decision-making. A significant share of hoteliers also indicate that they “do not know” how their performance compares with the market, illustrating weak competitive benchmarking practices. Combined with the high diversity of systems in use, these findings show that despite widespread digital adoption, many hotels have yet to unlock its full strategic potential. To better leverage the analytical capabilities of AI, it would be beneficial for hotels to integrate data from disparate systems into a more unified dataset. Strengthening both data consolidation and analytical literacy can help generate deeper insights and support more informed, forward-looking decision-making over time.
Conclusion: A Sector Equipped, But Not Yet Empowered
The findings paint a picture of a sector with broad access to digital tools, but limited integration and strategic use. Adoption of RMS and comprehensive KPIs is still uneven, particularly among smaller hotels and those in non-urban locations. Tackling system fragmentation, promoting data interoperability, and investing in analytical literacy will be key to raising the sector’s digital maturity. For digital transformation to drive real value, infrastructure must be paired with coherent strategy and performance insight.
Article illustration : generated with Copilot
Roland Schegg
Full professor UAS
+41 (0)58 606 90 83
HES-SO Valais-Wallis
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