Hotel tech must replace workflows
- Raj argued that rising RevPAR and higher booking and labour costs mean AI and profit-optimization tools must replace existing workflows. - The post notes distribution and inventory expenses as primary targets for savings in hotel operations. - The implication is technology should automate tasks, not just report data, to actually lower operating costs and variance. (x.com)
Hotel owners are being pushed to swap out manual workflows for software that actually makes decisions, not just dashboards that describe the problem. (ahla.com) (pwc.com) Raj Chudasama, managing partner of Kriya Hotels and founder of hotel-tech companies including Kriya RevGEN, made that case in a recent post on X as operators face slower revenue growth and higher costs. Kriya Hotels says it runs six Hilton and Marriott properties in the Dallas-Fort Worth market. (kriyahotels.com) (x.com) The pressure is visible in industry forecasts. PwC said in December 2025 that U.S. revenue per available room, or RevPAR, was expected to rise 0.9% in 2026 after a 0.2% decline in 2025, while average occupancy was projected at 62% and average daily rate growth at 1.1%. (pwc.com) At the same time, owners say costs are still climbing. In an American Hotel & Lodging Association survey released March 17, 2026, 71% cited goods and supplies as a top financial pressure, 65% cited labor costs, 50% cited utilities and energy, and 43% cited insurance premiums. (ahla.com) That leaves less room for technology that only reports yesterday’s numbers. PwC said margin pressure is likely to intensify as supply grows faster than demand, while the 2025 State of Distribution report said four in five hotels still spend up to two full work days each week stitching reports together. (pwc.com) (hedna.org) Distribution is one of the clearest targets because every booking channel has a cost. NYU, HEDNA, and RateGain said in June 2025 that their State of Distribution 2025 benchmark drew on more than 700 hotel brands, 21,000 properties, and 310 cities as commercial teams merged revenue management, marketing, and distribution work to chase efficiency. (online.nyu.edu) (hedna.org) Online travel agency commissions are still a large part of that expense stack. An NYU SPS and Boston Consulting Group analysis published March 2, 2026 said online travel agency commissions remain at 15% to 30% as artificial intelligence starts to reshape how hotels are discovered and booked. (sps.nyu.edu) Labor is the other big line item, and hotels are still short of workers. The March 2026 AHLA survey said more than half of respondents were somewhat or severely understaffed, and 70% said they were raising wages to recruit and retain employees. (ahla.com) That is why the argument has shifted from “more insight” to “less manual work.” In practice, that means automating rate changes, inventory updates, channel controls, and repetitive back-office tasks so fewer people are moving data from one screen to another. (hedna.org) (cbre.com) The thread running through the hotel business in 2026 is simple: if room revenue is growing slowly and booking and labor costs are not, owners are going to demand software that cuts the work itself. (pwc.com) (ahla.com)
