The
American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA), has released its 2026
State of the Industry Report (SOTI).
The report from the largest hotel association in America
offers a data-driven look at hotel performance, operating conditions and the
outlook for the year ahead with major global events such as the FIFA World Cup
and America250 helping lift travel demand.
Compared to 2025, the
report shows a marked difference in a year where hotels operated in a constrained
environment with persistent cost inflation, uneven across-market recovery and
shifting travel patterns.
“AHLA’s State of the Industry Report is clear in its
message: hotels continue to deliver economic value in every community, and we
expect to see improvement over the last, challenging year,” said Rosanna
Maietta, President & CEO of AHLA in a statement.
She added, “Even as operating costs remain elevated and
profitability lags in many markets, hotels supported more than two million jobs
last year and generated tens of billions of dollars in tax revenue for
governments at every level. This year we expect consumer spending to rise and
our workforce to expand - showing some positives amidst many market challenges
as our industry continues to persevere.”
Key findings of the 2026 report include:
- Hotels generated $85.1 billion in local, state,
and federal taxes in 2025 (up $1.7 billion from 2024), and projected to rise to
nearly $87 billion in 2026.
- Hotel guest spending in 2026 is expected to
reach nearly $805 billion, a 1.7 percent increase over 2025.
- Rising operating expenses were a primary factor
keeping gross operating profit per available room (GOPPAR) at roughly 90
percent of 2019 levels.
- The industry paid nearly $128 billion in wages
and benefits in 2025 and is expected to approach $131 billion in 2026.
- The hotel workforce is projected to grow by more
than 30,000 jobs in 2026, bringing direct hotel operations employment to
approximately 2.2 million.
Domestic leisure travel remains the largest component of
U.S. travel activity according to the report, while international inbound
travel remains below pre-pandemic levels, an important headwind for
destinations relying heavily on overseas visitation and high-spend travelers.
AHLA’s report also emphasized that converting resilience
into sustained growth will depend on a supportive operating and policy
environment, including measures that facilitate travel, address cost pressures,
and strengthen workforce development.
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