15+ Hospitality Trends In UK and Beyond

Tips / 07.04.2025

The hospitality sector ranks as one of the most competitive in the world.

To stand out from the crowd, businesses must constantly evolve in attempts to meet changing needs and customer preferences.

In the following sections, we share unmissable key hospitality trends that can help you reshape your strategy and attract more travellers

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Sustainability

When it comes to key trends in the hospitality industry, sustainability takes a leading position. In fact, sustainable practices have become a must-have in merely any industry around the globe.

Environmentally-conscious guests are gradually transforming the way hospitality businesses are thinking about energy consumption and environmental impact.

In 2024, 60% of Britons agree that climate change is the biggest threat to civilisation. 21% of them share that they’re willing to invest most in brands that favour sustainability.

As a result, hospitality businesses that opt for more sustainable materials, renewable energy, and other practices are likely to build more trust among consumers.

However, it’s worth noting that the majority of the commercial real estate market has not yet been fully adapted to the new standards and expectations related to sustainability. This may pose significant challenges for brands looking to exploit older buildings for hospitality purposes.

Despite energy market fluctuations and other obstacles, participants in the hospitality industry can explore the following:

Food waste management ;
Water conservation;
Green certifications;
Energy-efficient practices.

As a result, they can slowly move towards more sustainable operations, adapting to this trend.

Net zero – regenerative tourism

Another one of the emerging hospitality trends in 2024 is regenerative tourism.

Moving beyond traditional sustainability efforts, regenerative tourism aims to contribute to improving the environment, local communities, and ecosystems.

Studies demonstrate the significant likelihood of global temperatures exceeding 1.5 degrees Celsius within this decade and have recognised tourism’s contribution to 8% of global carbon emissions.

More and more hospitality companies are exploring creative opportunities for promoting cultural preservation, biodiversity, and community well-being.

Some of the ways to achieve this as a hospitality brand include partnering with local farmers, artisans, and guides, restoring natural environments, like coral reef restoration and wildlife preservation, or building with eco-friendly materials.

Sustainable food strategies

In terms of sustainability, food is probably one of the biggest concerns hotel guests and tourists have.

As consumers increasingly pay attention to environmentally friendly practices, hotels, restaurants, and catering services are increasingly prioritising local food and seasonal ingredients.

This helps achieve a lower carbon footprint and also helps support local farmers.

In addition, food waste is a tremendous concern, with more than 60% of UK consumers stating that they explore every avenue to prevent their food from spoiling.

Naturally, this calls for advanced food waste management practices in the hospitality sector.

Sustainable travel & accommodation

If you’re planning to attract potential guests to your hotel or Airbnb apartment, it’s important to understand that travellers are consciously aware of the environmental impact of their trips.

Based on studies, more than 65% of travellers prefer to use more sustainable lodging or transportation on their next trip. Despite the higher costs that are usually associated with this type of travel, consumers are prepared to spend more if that means making a positive environmental change.

As a hospitality brand, you could start considering the available options for offering more sustainable travel and accommodation solutions to your guests.

Mobile

Needless to say, the exponential increase in mobile device use is also contributing towards significant changes in consumer behaviour, ultimately affecting the accommodation sector.

Based on studies, in 2023 nearly 50% of travellers used their mobile device to perform destination research.

But apart from simply using mobile devices, customers nowadays expect advanced use of mobile tech for improving the guest journey, conversational commerce, and mobile payments.

Mobile tech for guest journey

With convenience at the heart of decision-making, the modern traveller expects a mobile check-in and check-out process.

As a result, nearly 70% of hotels are already adopting contactless technology to meet these new demands.

Mobile check-ins and check-outs don’t just guarantee flexibility and convenience. They’re also much more hygienic, providing safety for guests, especially in times of pandemics.

After COVID-19, mobile check-ins have increased dramatically, with the aim of limiting physical interactions and making the guest process more streamlined and seamless.

Conversational commerce in hospitality

The growing role of Artificial Intelligence has inspired a lot of change in different sectors, conversational commerce included.

Hospitality companies today are expected to actively use chatbots, AI-powered virtual assistants, and messaging apps to interact with customers, manage bookings, and personalise services in real-time.

For example, studies show that chatbots lead to a 30% increase in direct bookings for hotels.

Conversational commerce creates more room for improving the guest journey and creating lasting relationships with travellers, encouraging repeat business.

Mobile payments

Thanks to the convenience and security that mobile payments offer, they’ve now turned into the top-preferred payment method in parts of the world like the UK and the USA.

Research reveals that over 90% of consumers state they’ve used mobile payments within the past year.

By eliminating the need for entering PINs, providing signatures, or swiping, mobile payments are also one of the safest payment methods available today.

Their popularity also means that customers expect to see such payment options when interacting with a hotel or any other type of hospitality business.

To adapt to this trend, partner with a reliable payment provider that supports mobile payments and improves the guest experience through features like keyless entry, in-app purchases, and mobile check-ins.

Experiences

Another category of trends in the hospitality industry worth acknowledging is that of experiences.

Hotel guests are actively showing an interest towards experiential travel. In fact, 89% of tourism service providers admit they’re seeing higher demand for experience-led travel.

More and more travellers are showing a preference towards memorable experiences over material things, choosing local restaurants and hotels that reflect the local character of a particular destination.

To allow guests to embrace this form of travel, hotels and hospitality brands can differentiate by creating culturally inspired designs, layouts, or outfits. They can also explore ways to introduce experience-driven dishes and invite guests to participate in interactive events.

In addition, partnering with local guides who can show guests the gems of their selected destination is also a winning approach.

AR & VR in hospitality

Immersive technologies like Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) are also becoming more in demand than ever.

A clear indication of this trend is the vast interest towards these technologies from consumers. For example, more than 34% of guests around the world say they’re very interested in using a Virtual Reality tour or Metaverse experience to get a more realistic idea of a hotel room before booking.

Via VR and AR, boutique hotels can allow guests to take a sneak peek at hotel rooms, restaurants, entertainment zones, spa centres, and more.

Hyper-personalization

Personalised services are not hot news as the interest towards bespoke products or services spiked years ago.

However, today, we’re talking about hyper-personalisation.

There are significant changes in guest expectations driven by a need for personalisation in the guest experience.

Research shows that more than 70% of respondents admit that they’re more likely to visit a specific destination after receiving a personalised ad.

At the same time, tourists today expect one-to-one interactions that are entirely shaped around their individual preferences and shopping behaviour.

Naturally, this forces hospitality companies to revisit marketing strategies and pay more attention to data and customer insights.

Experiential dining

Travellers also increasingly seek immersive and memorable dining experiences that go beyond just food.

Experiential dining has emerged as a hospitality trend in 2025, offering tourists a taste of local culture.

Factors such as social media influence, the desire for personalisation and authenticity, and a growing emphasis on cultural uniqueness are driving the demand for this type of dining.

UK hotels providing unique dining experiences see an average increase of 10% in food and beverage revenue compared to those without such offerings

No matter if you’re in the restaurant industry or run a hotel business, offering exclusive, limited-time dining experiences can help you stand out from the crowd.

Keep in mind that vegetarian and vegan options are particularly attractive, as more and more consumers consciously strive for healthy diets.

Technology

92% of hotel guests around the world embrace technology.

In some of the earlier trends we discussed, we touched upon technological advancements as incredibly important for the changes in consumer preferences.

In the hospitality market, tech innovations are reshaping entire business strategies. From voice search to automation, technology offers unlimited potential for both hospitality brands and travellers.

Here are the top hospitality technology trends you need to know about.

Automation

According to research, more than 80% of hospitality operators are integrating automated systems to streamline operations.

Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning are powerful forces behind this trend, enabling businesses to minimise human error, save time, lower costs, and provide an improved service to guests.

In online customer interactions, AI-powered chatbots and virtual assistants take care of guest inquiries, bookings, and can even make advanced personal recommendations.

This has a dramatic impact on customer satisfaction but at the same time – it reduces reliance on human staff for executing these activities.

In addition, property management systems are increasingly integrated with AI, creating opportunities for automation in areas like room allocation, guest check-ins, and billing.

Smart hotels

If you thought that smart rooms would be a thing of the future – the future is here.

Smart hotels are another example of rising technology trends, where the Internet of Things (IoT) is incorporated into a property to provide unmatched convenience and efficiency.

For example, voice-controlled customer service enables guests to interact with hotel systems through the use of smart devices like Alexa or Google Assistant.

Studies show that around 30% of all service requests at hotels equipped with voice-enabled technology are made through in-room voice assistants.

As a result, tasks like room service requests, room settings, or checking information can all be streamlined and made more convenient than ever.

Meanwhile, hospitality payment solutions are also evolving to accommodate the new needs and expectations. With simple tap-to-pay and no card present transactions, guests can make transactions seamlessly and on the go.

Data-driven hospitality

As businesses increasingly rely on data analytics to optimise operations, offer better guest experiences, and stay competitive – data-driven hospitality has become a key trend.

Data-driven decision-making is at the heart of business growth in a competitive space such as the hospitality sector. This is only natural considering that 65% of consumers say that personalization is a key driver of loyalty.

To gain valuable insights and improve marketing efforts, hospitality brands must adequately collect and analyse large volumes of data, including booking patterns, preferences, feedback, and more.

By doing this, hospitality companies can make accurate predictions, personalise their services, and improve overall satisfaction.

Guest Preferences

In addition, there are also peculiar changes in the preferences of modern travellers.

Here are the two most important ones.

Wellness retreats

One of the biggest hospitality trends in 2024 is related to a niche form of travelling – wellness tourism.

The wellness tourism market in the UK reached $15.6 billion and has continued thriving ever since. On a global level, this segment is forecasted to grow at 10% CAGR, reaching an astonishing $2.3 trillion by 2033.

These staggering numbers clearly demonstrate the shifting customer preferences towards travels that offer extra pampering.

Currently, some of the most popular features attracting customers include health diagnostic technology, treatment plans provided by professionals, stress management via yoga sessions and massages, and more.

The majority of hotel brands around the world are already adapting their strategies to meet these rising needs.

Bleisure travel – blurring business & leisure

While in the past the hospitality industry catered to business trip travellers and leisure travellers as two individual customer groups, today, these two travel forms are slowly merging together.

Market research shows that nearly 30% of the people in the UK were categorised as “hybrid workers”, travelling to work and working from home at the same time.

All this naturally leads to more people travelling with the combined purposes of working and exploring new locations.

Hospitality businesses can address this emerging trend by making it easier than ever for guests to mix work with pleasure while travelling.

This means providing comfortable and convenient working spaces in hotel rooms, equipping these areas with enough charging points, offering quiet areas, and meeting rooms.

Global Trends

Apart from the hospitality trends covered so far, there are also a number of global trends worth addressing.

Micro Tourism

One of the latest hospitality trends on a global level is micro tourism – a form of travel characterised by shorter, hyper-local experiences.

Research shows that most Britons who intend to travel in 2025 plan to take a domestic holiday, and more than half anticipate taking between two to four trips (57%).

Rather than planning lengthy, international trips, a lot of modern tourists prefer to book micro getaways to nearby destinations, usually in a matter of a few hours’ drive.

This is a direct reflection of the need to unwind after long and stressful work weeks. The best part of micro tourism is that it enables tourists to travel frequently without spending too much or wasting a lot of time.

Micro Tourism creates exciting new opportunities for the hospitality industry. As a business, you can attract local or regional visitors interested in unique, short-term experiences.

Sharing economy

The sharing economy is another powerful trend that has recently emerged, affecting the hotel industry.

Platforms like Airbnb have contributed to the popularisation of the concept of peer-to-peer lodging. This alternative travel model offers much more diverse and customised options when compared to traditional hotels.

Most importantly, such opportunities are also more affordable.

For hospitality brands, the sharing economy could be both a challenge and an opportunity. Hotels and standard accommodations are quickly adapting to this emerging trend by providing more personalised, experience-based stays, as we saw above.

Meanwhile, some hotels are partially participating in the shared economy trend by partnering with local hosts or creating co-living spaces.

Future of Work

As technology continues evolving and global events influence upcoming hospitality developments, we’re expecting to see more future trends emerging.

For hospitality leaders and small businesses looking to gain a competitive edge, understanding the emerging trends related to employment in the sector is crucial.

Attracting talent

Offering outstanding hospitality services is inevitably linked to the skills and capabilities of the employed hospitality professionals.

With the rise of AI, automation, and data analytics, the demand for tech-savvy professionals is on the rise. Companies will need talent that is capable of using and efficiently implementing these technologies.

Moveover, hospitality brands will have a preference for working with eco-conscious employees, allowing them to cater to the needs of customers who prioritise sustainability.

Gig economy

Last but not least, it’s worth mentioning that the rise of the gig economy perfectly fits in with the industry’s shift towards flexibility, technology, and on-demand services.

Today, there’s a significant rise of temporary or freelance workers who provide essential services, like housekeeping, catering, and event management. This allows hospitality businesses to quickly adapt to changing demands easily, without any losses.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is AI a driving force behind recent hospitality trends?

Yes, Artificial Intelligence contributes towards the rise of some of the most important hospitality trends. AI and automation in hospitality streamline operations through voice-controlled customer service, online customer interactions, and property management systems. They improve efficiency, enhance guest experiences, and reduce operational costs.

What is regenerative tourism, and how does it benefit destinations?

Regenerative tourism aims to improve and restore the environments and communities that tourism impacts. It involves activities like habitat restoration and supporting local economies, benefiting destinations by leaving them better than before.

In what ways is the sharing economy affecting the hospitality industry?

The sharing economy impacts hospitality by offering alternative accommodation options like vacation rentals and peer-to-peer services. It promotes access over ownership and supports local economies while providing travellers with diverse, affordable choices.