LOS ANGELES — Every new year brings the possibility of a new start, and hoteliers attending the Americas Lodging Investment Summit are hoping that's the case in 2026.
Last year started off with more optimism as hospitality industry players generally expected a more business-friendly environment. After all the events of 2025 and less-than-stellar hotel performance, this year the optimism is back but tempered by the challenges hotel companies had to overcome.
Executives took the stage during the first day of ALIS to offer their perspectives on the road ahead. They pointed to major events, namely the World Cup games and America 250, as major drivers of future demand as well as better year-over-year comps as reasons for having a brighter outlook. They also spoke about the lessons they learned from all the disruption last year, giving them the experience they'll need to face potential future upsets in the coming months.
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Quotes of the day
"This is probably the most difficult forecasting environment of my 30-something years in this industry, because every day something new happens that we didn't think of — that we never thought of, including people talking about the decoupling demand and GDP. ... It's something that it was just a very good indicator. It's not anymore."
—Isaac Collazo, senior director of analytics at STR
"One of the stats that I find fascinating is almost half of travelers are experimenting with AI to decide where they want to go, to really reduce the fragmentation of their traditional search and then make it happen. But less than 10% of them are actually following through to a booking, and so it's an opportunity to begin to close that gap."
—Matt Goldberg, CEO of TripAdvisor Group
The FIFA World Cup "should be terrific, but [we're] simultaneously engaging in every level of government and saying, 'We've got to make the world feel welcome coming to the U.S.' There may not be a more significant global sports event that draws the world and the eyes of the world, and when you have visitors asking legitimate questions about what their experience will be coming through customs and immigration, whether ... there will be a new entry fee, all of these sorts of things, those are big impediments to optimizing what should be a home-run opportunity for the lodging industry."
—Tony Capuano, Marriott International president and CEO, on the need for the U.S. to be welcoming to international travelers during the FIFA World Cup.
Editor's takeaways
Every conference is an opportunity to take the temperature of the hotel industry, and ALIS is the one that kicks things off each year. Everyone knows that 2025 didn't go as people initially thought it would, and through panel discussions and interviews, it's clear that it's made a impact on how hoteliers are approaching this year.
Hotel owners, investors and operators are heading into this year with a clearer idea of what obstacles could pop up to disrupt hotel performance. It's not exactly 20/20 vision, but it's better than being caught completely off guard.
Even without knowing exactly what's to come, it sounds like hoteliers are making sure they're flexible and ready to pivot should the situation call for it.
— Bryan Wroten, senior reporter
It's hard not to interpret that nationwide blizzard that disrupted traveling to Los Angeles for ALIS as a sign from the universe during an event that typically sets the tone for the full year across the hotel industry. But obviously there's more going on for hoteliers than short-term weather issues.
During the "Boardroom XXV: Confronting Change" session, IHG Hotels & Resorts CEO Elie Maalouf outlined a more long-term issue for hoteliers: the fact that the U.S. government doesn't prioritize the importance of travel and tourism despite its outsized effect on the broader economy.
"I just think we're blessed with so much domestic wealth that we just kind of take it for granted," he said. "Other countries feel like they don't have either the natural resources or the geopolitical advantages that we have — or the industries that we have in technology or finance — and so they value it more. It's not a reason not to value it. I think it's complacency, but because of other agenda items, it's hard to break through. We can't stop trying because it's just so much upside, and it's to the benefit, not just of U.S. Treasury but of individual hotel operators and mom-and-pop and families and restaurant owners. It's to the benefit of the local population."
— Sean McCracken, news editor
As an ALIS newbie, I've frequently heard that this conference tends to see a good deal of optimism from hoteliers. I was curious if, in light of the disappointing hotel performance from last year, we'd see a bit more muted perspectives. I don't think 2025 beat all the optimism out of the hoteliers in attendance, but there seems to be more realism to what speakers had to say about 2026 expectations.
CoStar and Tourism Economics released its forecast for 2026 and 2027, and revenue per available room is expected to grow 0.6% this year with average daily rate growing 1%. In some of my conversations with hoteliers today, I heard about how the industry is getting more comfortable with the uncertainty of last year and is looking forward to what some of the big demand drivers — like the upcoming World Cup — will do to help out performance.
— Natalie Harms, reporter