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and tax-friendly environment, he posited.
For Hyatt Hotels Corp., a company with a much smaller footprint than the likes of Marriott International or Hilton, but whose portfolio skews higher end, strong leisure travel has guided it through 2026, its president & CEO, Mark Hoplamazian, said. He remains cautious still over war in the Middle East and its effects even after or if it ends soon and the restart of oil and liquified natural gas flow.
In a diverse but interconnected world, evading trouble altogether is not probable.“ If you have a globally diversified business, every year there is going to be something,” said Elie Maalouf, president & CEO of IHG Hotels & Resorts.“ But if you have a diverse business, you can more readily absorb and move on. It covers for significant
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bumps like in the Middle East,” which accounts for still a small percentage of IHG’ s hotels.
Sebastien Bazin, who recently announced he will be departing Accor as chairman & CEO in 2028, is equally cognizant of the global pitfalls that endure for a global hospitality company.“ Every year there is something not going our way,” he said.“ We need to adapt.” Bazin noted that as travel to the Middle East and Dubai has been down for Accor’ s hotels, it is seeing a shift to countries such as Morocco and Egypt.“ It shows the resiliency of the traveler,” he said.
Travel adaptation is also showing up in Hilton’ s hotels, Nassetta said. Though he recognizes the struggle for many at the gas pump, where the national average for a gallon of gas is currently around $ 3.71, according to AAA, it is not stopping spending altogether,
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just changing spending habits. Nassetta shared that 70 % of Hilton’ s business in the U. S. is of the drive-to variety, something that has been trending consistently for several years post-COVID, a Hilton spokesperson said.
One thing hotel CEOs agree on is where hotel investment and development is migrating— eastward, especially India. While Accor’ s Bazin said he expected India to be the largest market by 2045—“ bigger than China,” in fact— others were a bit less bullish on the timeline, but equally optimistic over the state of the country.“ It’ s all happening there,” said Nassetta, pointing to a spate of infrastructure improvements that include airports, railways and highways.“ There is a significant amount of inbound money interested in investing there,” he added.
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India is already in the throes of a massive wave of aviation expansion, aiming to add 50 new airports over the next five years as part of its goal to reach up to 400 by 2047, up from its current count of 163.
No panel discussion is complete without conversation on artificial intelligence. Bazin made the grim declaration that 40 % of his corporate jobs will be replaced by AI— 2,000 people altogether, he noted.“ I need to warn them: What you do today, you won’ t be doing 18 months from now,” he said.“ You can’ t fight against it.”
Hoplamazian said that AI has already made impactful inroads at the property level.“ Administrative stuff should be automated,” he said, offering that it frees up time for staff to better engage with guests.“ That’ s powerful. AI should amplify humanity,” he said.
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10 hotelsmag. com July / August 2026 |