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Presently, LLMs do not have rich imagery and content, such as photos of the rooms and features, that customers usually demand when making hotel bookings, Kletzel said., meanwhile, has quickly broadened in current years.

Beyond the visitor experience, agentic commerce has the potential to shift the way hotel companies' customer support teams run and are structured, Klein stated. "Will there be some corporations that find the opportunity to lower staff? Yes," Klein said. However brands that think in excellent customer experience and service will discover that AI might assist their representatives "get included in more complicated, more business-critical conversations that assist grow business." In 2025, Hyatt reduced staff by approximately 30% across its guest services and assistance groups "in reaction to the developing nature of visitor inquiries and shifting business needs," per the company.

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This year, a number of collection brand names that introduced in 2025 will continue to broaden. Additional new brand names and partnerships, especially in the way of life sector, will likely debut too, according to hospitality specialists. In 2025, Marriott introduced two collection brand names: Series by Marriott, playing in the upscale area in the U.S., and Outdoor Collection, exclusively focused on outside lodgings in locations near national forests, deserts, ski areas and shorelines.

Marriott's Outdoor Collection provides special lodgings in locations near nationwide parks, deserts, ski locations and shorelines.

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Hilton's Start Collection, specifically, has more than 60 hotels in the works across the U.S. and Canada, Kevin Osterhaus, president of lifestyle brands at Hilton, told Hotel Dive. Start is currently exploring possible new places in San Diego, Los Angeles and Virginia Beach, Virginia, as well as markets in New Mexico and Colorado in 2026, Osterhaus said.

"Collection brands are appealing since they use the best of both worlds: Owners keep the special DNA of their home, while opening international distribution, revenue management, loyalty and support. Kevin Osterhaus President of way of life brands at Hilton From the guest perspective, independent shop hotels are preferable due to the fact that they offer genuine experiences, Gabriel Perez, primary operating officer of lodging at The Indigo Road Hospitality Group, told Hotel Dive.

As for why the hotel companies are going after independents in the way of life section, "it's not about the visitors. It has to do with developing sub-brands within their own brand names to satisfy investors' needs and to please owner and developers' goals," Perez said. JLL's Davis echoed that sentiment, telling Hotel Dive that the market is at the point of, if not past the point of, brand name saturation, as "public companies [are] under a significant quantity of pressure for net system development." This, in turn, puts much more pressure on hotel companies "to create brands, micro brand names and subsets of brands in order to expand their footprint of existing assets," Davis stated.

Hilton's collection brand names' "unique positioning and storytelling continue to drive interest across chain scales," Osterhaus said. Series and Outdoor Collection, both conversion-friendly offerings, pertain to an ownership community and designers who "are continuously looking for ways to grow, and conversions represent a course for development," Molinary stated.

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According to Osterhaus, "As long as brand names are purpose-built and distinct in experience and cost point, they include clearness rather than confusion." This year, Hilton prepares to remain "very active in the way of life space through strategic collaborations, new finalizings and ongoing growth of our existing brand names," Osterhaus said. Molinary expects Marriott rivals to start offering some type of branding option in the outside area, particularly, as "it's a really popular and growing space" with "a lot of interest." Another growing space is the high-end segment.

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That pattern is expected to continue in 2026 as luxury consumers drive travel spending and hotel bookings amid a wealth bifurcation at play in the market. "High-net-worth travelers are expected to stay one of the most reliable chauffeurs of international travel costs next year," Giray Boran, handling director of BLG Capital, informed Hotel Dive.