US Hotel Industry Statistics & Trends Operators Need to Know
by The Plate IQ Editorial Team
The US hotel industry statistics has changed dramatically in the past few hundred years. The shift is trending towards hotel chains catering to a specific market now.
Maybe your hotel specializes in hosting families. You offer a pool with a waterslide, an arcade with an indoor play area, and hand out goodie bags at check-in for kids.
Or maybe your hotel caters to the business traveler with in-room offices, co-working spaces, and a 24-hour gym for when they’re finally done working.
To ensure your hotel’s success, you need to stay on top of US hotel industry statistics to know what your guests want so you can implement changes to handle those expectations.
Without data, you’ll be flying blind to what’s going on in the hospitality world, which could sink your hotel faster than the Titanic.
But don’t worry, the latest US hotel industry statistics are here to keep you and your hotel at the top of your game — this guide covers:
- The history of the US hotel industry
- Today’s hotel industry
- Vital hotel industry statistics and trends
- AP Automation as a hotel industry trend that’s here to stay
- 4 Benefits of automating your hotel’s AP
US Hotel Industry Statistics
Hotels today are designed with specific lifestyles and travel occasions in mind — there’s a hotel for everyone and every need:
- Ritz-Carlton — Guests who want luxury accommodations
- Homewood Suites — Extended-stay business travelers
- La Quinta — Budget-conscious travelers
- Embassy Suites — Guests who want the comfort & convenience of 2 rooms
Hotels are much more advanced and rely on automation in many ways.
As a hotelier, it’s crucial to stay on top of the latest statistics and trends in the hotel industry to ensure your hotel is ahead of the game in addressing the wants and needs of your guests.
Vital US Hotel Industry Statistics and Trends
“Most of the world will make decisions by either guessing or using their gut. They will be either lucky or wrong.” – Suhail Doshi, chief executive officer, Mixpanel.
The success of your hotel operation simply can’t be left to chance, guessing, or whatever your gut whispers to you.
By understanding US hotel industry statistics, analyzing that data, and adapting you can put together key stats to keep your hotel trending in the right direction.
General US Hotel Industry Statistics
While general statistics might not seem super sexy, they’re vital. General statistics about the overall hotel industry are equally as valuable as more niche statistics.
The statistics below paint a picture of what’s going on in the hospitality industry and will help you figure out where your hotel fits in.
- As of 2023, there are over 700,000 hotels and resorts worldwide. (Condor Ferries)
- The hotel market is made up of over 4 million rooms worldwide. (Condor Ferries)
- There are at least 91,000 hotels and motels in the US, around 52,000 of which are hotels. Collectively, they generate more than $194 billion of revenue annually. (Condor Ferries)
- The average American hotel generates 65% of revenue from rooms, while 25% comes from F&B and 10% from other outlets. (Hotel Tech Report)
- Hilton remains the world’s most valuable hospitality brand, with its value up by 35% despite the COVID-19 pandemic. (Brand Finance)
- There are over 4,600 boutique hotels in the United States. A boutique hotel is usually defined as a high-end, independently owned hotel with fewer than 100 rooms and a unique design style. (Hotel Tech Report)
- The average room rate in the US is $120.01 per night. (Condor Ferries)
- Airbnb is currently considered the most valuable tourism and leisure brand, valued at $10.5 billion. (Brand Finance)
- 81% of travelers want more digital customer service from hotel brands. (PwC)
- The travel and tourism industry accounts for 10.2% of the global GDP. (Deloitte)
- The travel and tourism sector is one of the fastest-growing industries, accounting for over 10% of the world’s GDP. (Sommet Education)
- The global luxury travel market is the fastest-growing section of the travel industry. It’s expected to grow by 7.4% by 2025, reaching over $350 billion in value within the 1st months. (ADROIT market research)
- Large hotel chains lose 10% – 15% of total revenue through commissions paid to 3rd party booking services. While small chains and hotels fork over 18% – 22% of their total revenue in 3rd party service commissions. (PWC)
Digitization and Tech Integration US Hotel Industry Statistics
As more people get used to facial recognition and fingerprint identification on their laptops and phones, the more digital integration they expect with their hotel experience.
As far as digital transformation, “nice to have” doesn’t cut it anymore in the hotel industry. Instead, digitization is necessary to stay ahead of your competition and on track with your growth.
Analysis of the hotel industry has produced some valuable data on this topic for you to review and implement in your hotels:
- 62% of hotel guests prefer to check in & out on a hotel’s app. (Statista)
- 73% of guests would prefer to open their hotel room door with an app. (Statista)
- 25% of hospitality and leisure CEOs think AI will significantly impact how they operate in the next five years. (PWC)
- At least 8 of the global leading hotel chains are implementing VR experiences in their marketing strategy. (PWC)
- Hotels using virtual tours are getting up to a 135% increase in online revenue. (PWC)
- Since implementing a VR staff training program, Best Western Hotel has reaped tangible benefits. Some benefits include a 71% decrease in guest complaints, a 19% increase in customer service ratings, and reduced onboarding time. (PWC)
- 85% of guests say they’d feel more comfortable staying at hotels that use technology to reduce direct contact. (Safe Stay Survey)
- Over 60% of guests surveyed said they’d use voice control technology if present in their room, and almost 70% would use it for in-room amenities like thermostats and light controls. In addition, 67% of guests also want the ability to cast personal content from their own devices to the room’s TV. (Hotel Internet Services)
Millennial Travel Statistics
Millennials represent the largest generation to date (with Gen Z hot on their tail), making up 31.5% of the world’s population. They’re redefining travel by emphasizing experiences and culture, creating their itineraries, and making travel decisions influenced by social media or user-generated content rather than stock photos.
All of these new travel trends are conducted on their smartphone, from research to booking.
As a hotelier, you need to pay attention to this group and its trends.
- Millennials spent $200 billion on travel in 2022, 33% plan a spending budget of $5000+ on their vacations.
- 66% of millennials book their trip using a smartphone.
- 74% use their phone for travel research.
- 82% of millennials traveled last year, compared with 75% of all other generations.
- 69% take weekend trips
- Millennials took 5.6 trips per year, compared with 4.4 (Gen Z), 4.0 (Gen X), and 3.5 (Boomers).
- 97% share travel experiences on social media, with 2 in 3 posting at least once a day during their trip.
- 58% of millennials stated they will travel solo, and 26% already have.
- 44% of millennials with children travel together, of which 62% did so with kids under 5 years old.
Automation is a Hotel Industry Trend That’s Here to Stay
Automation, by definition, is the use of technology applications that perform repetitive tasks, freeing up employees for higher-value work.
Higher value work — let that sink in.
Many hotels are resisting the implementation of automation for fear of losing quality human touch, an essential aspect in the hospitality industry.
But let’s reframe that idea. When you adapt to changing times and incorporate automation into your hotel operation, you’re encouraging your employees to step up to higher-value work, like serving your guests.
Automation aims to improve efficiency, streamline workflows, and enhance your overall hotel operation. The hospitality industry is already leaning into the benefits of automation with solutions like housekeeping management software and apps for guests.
An automated AP solution for your hotel could lighten your accounting workload significantly while boosting workflow efficiency.
4 Benefits of Automating Your Hotel’s AP
71% of businesses plan to further automate their accounts payable function in 2023, according to IOFM.
Automating your hotel AP is an innovative solution that’ll bring your hotel up-to-date and set you up for success in the future. It comes with some great benefits too:
- Frees up your GM’s time — This is the most significant benefit for your hotel. AP automation helps your GM claim back valuable time to focus on operations and guest experiences previously spent on keying in and approving invoices. That circles back to “higher-value work.”
- Streamlined invoice processing — With an AP automation solution like Plate IQ, most invoice processing workflow becomes automated. Invoices are digitized, automatically coded, and routed to the correct approver.
- More accurate reporting — Generating reports is easier, faster, and more accurate with automatic GL coding. It also allows for comparing expense categories across multiple properties.
- Real-time expense management — Invoices are scanned in, or you can snap a picture with your phone and upload it. Because invoices are digitized, and automatically GL coded, expenses are applied to categories in real-time, allowing increased oversight of your hotel operation spending.
Plate IQ knows the hospitality industry and understands the uniqueness of hotel accounting. Their hotel clients love the streamlined AP workflow that comes with Plate IQ.
Adapting to change is the key to success. So when you’re ready to bring your hotel’s AP up-to-date with cutting-edge automation, Plate IQ is here to serve you.
With Plate IQ, the GMs know that they can click on the invoice and see that it was paid. They can actually hover over the page to see the check number, click on the check number, and get a copy of the check. It’s incredible how much time that user-friendliness alone has saved me.
— Kirsten Haley, AP manager at Golder Hospitality
The Plate IQ Editorial Team
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